


Agents of the Crown

by TheCityCesspool



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Again, Espionage, From a game, Japanese usage probably, M/M, OOC, Save the future, SecretAgents!Au, Titanic!AU, Various Characters not OCs, Whew here we go, light slash, timetravel!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-01-20 02:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12423687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCityCesspool/pseuds/TheCityCesspool
Summary: But what if the past could be changed?If only Shizuo had met with his contact and prevent disaster...what then?Shizuo and Izaya are agents of the British Secret Service aboard the Titanic to carry out a mission that becomes twisted beyond their expectations...meanwhile, they have to thwart the Germans working for the other side.





	1. Responsibility

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greeneyedciel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneyedciel/gifts).



***

_The Bureau, you understand…we can’t be held responsible._

***

 

April 14, 1942  
London  
World War II

 

A loud honk came from outside. It was no wonder being that the windows were open on this clear Spring day, the passing of various motorcars could be heard well from the street below. The small, one-room flat was occupied by one man sitting in the arm chair in the corner of the room. He sat with a glazed look in his golden-brown eyes, shadowed slightly by dyed-blonde hair. His clothing was simple, dark slacks with a white button-up and an unbuttoned brown vest.

For 1942, one would not find it strange to see him smoking (though it was a little unusual for a person to put out a cigarette under their shoe inside their own residence). One might, however, think it quite odd that the man was Japanese yet living in Britain. But not so, for he had immigrated with his parents and brother to Britain as a child. His family wasn’t the only one either, but it was fair enough to say that his case was a rare one.

The man, Shizuo Heiwajima, shared the flat with another presently – a cockroach that enjoyed crawling around the dirty cupboards near the sink and mantle. Though the bed was on the other side of where the cockroach was fond of dwelling, next to the window and desk, the entire place would feel dingy at the very least to an outsider which would be a fair judgement, the small flat was cramped, dusty, and all-around unclean.

Shizuo’s eyes were focused on the fluttering, hole-filled curtains which did not quite touch the desk they hovered over. He wasn’t really seeing them, though. It was the 30th anniversary of the sinking and the tragedy had brought death to over 1,000 people after all. How was he supposed to think of anything else?

Ever since that night, his life had seemingly spiraled out of his control. He’d been sacked from his job at the Bureau; the failure of his assigned mission on the Titanic had sent the world into a so-called unthinkable war followed by another. Subsequently, his life and the lives of millions of others were changed forever for the worse. He was supposed to have met with his contact on board that fateful night, and yet…

After that, he’d moved from job to job, looking for that something – that fulfillment – that he knew he was missing. But over time, nothing satisfied him and it became harder and harder to make ends meet, especially during the war times. He ended up isolating himself from friends and family over time as well. Perhaps it was shame or embarrassment, but it became harder and harder to maintain contact with them.

He turned on the radio to try to distract himself. The loud chiming of piano keys to a basic rhythm came over the airwaves. Ah, but he missed his old coworkers, friends, his brother, and even others he’d hardly met but could have known more. A red gaze and a smirk came to mind.

If he had only…

No, it was time to think about more pressing matters.

“’Bout time you’re awake,” came the heavily-accented and shrill voice of his landlady from the other side of his door, accompanied by a knock. “You’re two weeks late with the rent. War or no war, a tenant in arrears is not a tenant I’ll put up with! If you don’t pay by today, it’s the streets—I promise!”

Her footsteps creaked on the wooden floors outside as she left in a huff. It was certainly a more pressing matter than his memories, but then, this happened most months lately. It was certainly something he’d have to remedy that day but he wasn’t quite ready to face it.

The music on the radio was interrupted by a news broadcast. The soft and gentle tones of a woman’s voice flowed through the air.

_“Once again, today’s top stories: London has endured another night of German bombing. Most damage was concentrated in the East End. The RAF has struck enemy aerodromes in La Havre and the Low Countries. In Russia, further German losses are reported around Leningrad. In Asia, the American fortress at Corregidor is still defiant, but Japanese forces are reported nearing the Burmese oil fields. And that concludes the news summary. We now return you to our music program.”_

The news certainly wasn’t pretty, but it really hadn’t been in quite some time. 

There was a book on the armchair he sat in, and he flipped through it quickly as he had done so many times already, not really reading it – he practically knew it by heart, after all. “Futility” it was called. A book about an eerily similar ship sinking, written years before the Titanic. Did the author truly somehow know about it before hand? It was quite the controversial subject in the years following the sinking.

He kept a bookmark inside, a ripped newspaper article reporting the deaths of Lord and Lady Lambeth due to the sinking. Lady Lambeth, Georgia – she and Shizuo had been friends since his family moved to Britain. Her death was another regret.

Shizuo stood, and picked up some postcards he’d kept in the desk drawer among other articles. He focused on one from his brother, he’d last received word from him in the form of this postcard all of 14 years ago.

_Delhi_  
14 September 1928  
  
Brother,

_Having a great time. Ran into James in Bombay. He’s worried about you. Says he hasn’t heard from you since you left the Clinic. I told him you’re repairing clocks. Are you still? Such an off choice for someone with your skills. Talk to Father. I’m sure there’s a position with his firm. Heat’s beastly here._

_Love,  
Kasuka_

His brother and his old friend James. They tried their best with him for so long after the sinking but somehow, it just wasn’t enough.

He had articles regarding the ship’s sinking from newspapers, a bankers’ lamp, a pack of Old Reds alongside an ashtray, the letter he received upon his termination, magazines, and even a boat pass. Well…it was a Death tarot card but it had, oddly enough, functioned as a pass…to a lifeboat 30 years ago. So naturally, he still had it.

Shizuo rubbed his face. Why did he do this to himself every year? He knew it did no good and it only served to hurt him more.

He glanced at his bed, where his dark, medium-sized satchel lay along with a pocket watch. He’d had both on the voyage, he recalled. Looking at the watch, he started to think of what his boss had said to him when they’d sacked him shortly after World War I had begun.

_“See here…this isn’t about your dedication. Orihara certainly attests to your loyalty. No, your dismissal stems from the Titanic mission. That failure can no longer be ignored. Especially now. I am sorry…but someone must shoulder the blame. The service, you understand…we can’t be held responsible.”_

Letting out a sigh, he put the watch down again and looked to the door – perhaps if he could manage to sneak out, then…

But it wasn’t to be.

A loud siren began to wail, there was the sound of something soaring in the sky. Shizuo looked out the window, wondering just what it might be and how close. The siren was a common enough sound these days and there was nothing could be done about it, really. But then the whine of an approaching bomb sounded and the whole building shook.

Just as he was thinking of how close this bomb was, the glass of his windows blew out, the explosion shook his core and nearly deafened him. Even worse, smoke and fire poured in from the window and Shizuo found himself engulfed in pain and suffocation.

Until he blacked out.

.

.

.

All he could see was a dark, star-filled sky accompanied by the deep, dark ocean and he seemed to soar over it, heading towards…

‘No…it can’t be.’

He was moving faster, approaching what was inevitably the Titanic, sailing amidst the cold night.

His friend James had once said the past couldn’t be changed.

But…what if it could?

He couldn’t help the next thoughts that swirled through his mind.

‘It’s been 30 years since the night saw the end of the world…my world. The Service needed someone on board the Titanic. They chose me. I was to wait for a signal from my contact. So, I remained in my cabin. I left only once, Georgia was on board. And that was when it came, there were no second chances.

What if I’d met with my contact and prevented disaster…what if the past could be changed? What then?’

They were the same thoughts that haunted him for all those years.

The Titanic grew ever closer.

And everything faded to dark.

.

.

.

Shizuo Heiwajima woke up in Cabin C-73.

 

 

 


	2. 9:30PM

_April 14, 1912_  
Onboard the RMS Titanic  
9:30pm

A loud, familiar horn woke him.

The horn was actually the ship’s horn.

The Titanic.

Shizuo had to sit down in the nearest chair just to gather himself as those thoughts spun in his head for quite a few moments. Either this was a dream, or it was really happening. It didn’t take him long to decide to take this turn of events seriously, even if it were a dream because if it truly wasn’t, well…

Looking down at his own sitting form, he noticed a change of clothes. That’s right, he’d been wearing what was widely considered bartending clothing that night. The less he looked like what he really was, the better.

Shizuo got up. If this were the night of the sinking, then it was the night he’d been sent correspondence by his contact whom he was to meet with. But all those years ago, he had, in actuality, left his cabin when he’d gotten word from Georgia. He’d not heard from her – not even been able to hear from her in ages. Was she somehow his contact? Besides, he’d heard some of the rumors about her life’s situation through mutual acquaintances and friends – it wasn’t good. As it had turned out, he’d only been able to meet with her once at that time, and he wasn’t able to learn much at all from her as she’d been quite secretive. Then he’d missed correspondence from his real contact and thus, he couldn’t even begin his mission as he had no information. Before he knew it, despite his strength, despite his status as an agent, everything around him sank.

That was years ago, however. Now, he miraculously had another chance. He could not fail this time.

His room was larger than his entire flat in 1942 and it was, of course, far nicer. He had been booked as a first-class passenger, after all. There was a storage closet, a sink, a sofa, a table with four chairs, along with a bed and nightstand. The décor was oak, hand-crafted like everything else and the carpeting and upholstery a dark green. With the electricity running throughout the ship, he could elect to sleep whenever he wanted. On the table was a menu, Shizuo recalled receiving room service for meals. In the dressing area lay his pocket watch…well it wouldn’t do not to take it with him, so he picked it up and tucked it away. His satchel was there too, laying on the bed.

‘Might as well,’ he thought as he picked that up as well.

Aside from that, there had been a note he gotten and left by the sink, he could have sworn. And there it was, hand-written in Georgia’s handwriting inside one of the small drawers.

_Meet me on deck tonight – tell no one!_

_-Georgia_

Sadly, this time, he couldn’t afford to do that he thought as he put it back. Perhaps if he were lucky, he’d have the time to go see if she were still there that night.

The final thing in the room worth investigating was the large trunk he’d brought with him. Though it did have some personal affects, this was mainly in preparation for his mission. His satchel had the key for the trunk, and he opened it up.

Inside, he pushed away clothing and opened up some of the compartments. There was a confidential file containing detailed information of the current world situation.

‘I’ll have to check that later,’ he noted to himself. It would be a good idea to have a refresher. There was also a cryptograph inside of the trunk. If there were to be any sorts of messages to be decoded, that would be the way to do it. Finally, he had a gramophone. A very small one, but it was set up to play only one thing.

‘Better play it, I can’t remember what it was,’ he thought as he reached out to turn the small handle as sound came out of the funnel.

_‘His Majesty’s Government has assigned a highly-placed agent of the Crown to rendezvous with you on board the Titanic. Remain in your cabin until your contact gives you further instructions. After completion of all your assignments on board, book passage to remain on the ship and return to South Hampton for your next assignment.’_

It was his boss’ voice, he knew that deep sound anywhere.

Right, so that was why he hadn’t left for the first four days. He was still waiting to hear from his contact. Technically, this contact was to be his boss for the mission – a ‘highly-placed member of Her Majesty’s Government’, apparently. Shizuo didn’t have the greatest track record of following everything his superiors said to the tee, but his record was otherwise quite highly spoken of in the Bureau. Of course, he knew just how important this mission would be, knowing the current situation well enough he’d really have to adhere to –

A series of knocks interrupted his train of thought. It came from the door to his cabin – where else? – and he followed to the sound to open the door.

In stepped a man in a sort of butler attire. Balding with mustache, oily, and with a high-brow raised, the man introduced himself.

“Good evening. I am Smethells, your steward,” he began. “And, if I may say so, it is good to see you up and about. You’ve been in your cabin the whole voyage. A touch of the mal de mere, was it?”

After pulling out the French he knew, Shizuo was then able to respond. “Yes, just a touch.” It was as good an excuse as any to not have been out.

“Seasickness can be unpleasant. Especially if it’s one’s first crossing.”

Shizuo nodded in agreement. It was true enough.

“Very good, then. Your correspondence.”

Ah, so this was why Smethells had come: finally, what Shizuo had been waiting for.

Smethells held out a silver tray containing a small note that had to have been typed – the handwriting was too…perfect-looking.

_Meet me by the electric camel, now!_

_I.O._

As Shizuo stared at the note, wondering who “I.O.” could be, Smethells was speaking again.

“Two-thousand two hundred on board, and they all want messages delivered – promptly. Even if it is 1912, and the Titanic, the most advanced means of sea conveyance ever devised, I still have only two hands…”

His manner seemed dry, but otherwise Smethells seemed the reliable sort. Shizuo took note to remember about him.

“Here – a map of the ship for you. Compliments of the White Star Line. I have taken the liberty of indicating your cabin, C-73. Of course, on a Sunday evening at this hour, there won’t be many people out. Will there be anything else?” he handed over a folded piece of paper. A rather thick one too. This would doubtless be handy, though Shizuo’s memory of the ship was pretty decent.

He had only one question.

“What’s the electric camel?”

“An exercise device. They say it is good for the liver. I wouldn’t know,” as he explained, his left eyebrow came up incredibly high on his forehead. “It is located in the gymnasium on the boat deck, the starboard side.”

So…the very top deck, on the right-hand side. A left would be called port.

“Do you know who I.O. is?”

“A young man. A most insistent young man.”

That didn’t really narrow it down, unfortunately. Not among those agents he was thinking of, in any case but still, who was this person?

“Should you require further assistance, please ring the bell by the door. Good night.”

And with that, the man left. But it was time for Shizuo to be on his way too.

Leaving the room, he was left in a very long hallway decorated in beige tones where he could go left or right. Well, the gymnasium was off of the Grand Staircase. Shizuo headed right. The door here opened into a large room with a huge staircase which stretched all the way from D-Deck up to the Boat Deck. The white floors polished, the lifts on the reverse side of the stairs, and a couple of people here and there enjoying the area, including Smethells.

To climb the stairs, one first headed straight up, then turned left or right onto more stairs to emerge onto the next deck. Shziuo climbed upwards until he reached A-Deck. In his hurry, he almost ran right into someone.

The man wore a beige suit and was balding, with dark hair and a pleasant demeanor. Shizuo apologized for bumping into him, and the man was quite alright letting it pass.

“Leland Secum Trask,” he said his name was. Apparently, a psychic of some kind. They exchanged pleasantries, and Shizuo continued up the stairs, noticing the carving on the stairs of A-Deck. It looked like two women carved into the wood surrounding a clock. It wasn’t too large, but big enough to be noticeable. What he didn’t notice was Trask’s puzzled face as he watched him go.

Up on the top floor, the Boat Deck, there were two doors on either the left or right side to go out. He chose the one on the right. This door led either outside or to the gymnasium, so of course, he chose the gymnasium door and damn near regretted it.

Inside the room were various gym equipment including a punching bag, a rower, and of course the electric camel. Someone was staring at some posters on the wall illustrating the correct ways of using the machinery.

Once he came in, they turned, and a memory came rushing to him.

He knew where he’d seen this man before.

The roach.

~

It had been like a convention, more or less. Many speakers and presentations had been given, and a party had been thrown in celebration of the Bureau’s founding. Of course, it was kept under wraps from the general public, even spouses were not to be brought along.

Shizuo had decided to help out with that party by making and bringing drinks around the ballroom where much schmoozing was going on. He wasn’t required to do it by any means, but he was required to attend the celebrations. Thus, he’d decided to assist the actual bar staff and no one could say anything about that. He wasn’t having an abundance of luck in handing out drinks, however. His reputation was known among the ranks, after all. Shizuo may not have been an agent for long at the time, but news of his incredible strength had travelled quickly through the Bureau. Though this had been the main reason he’d not wanted to attend in the first place, he’d thought bringing drinks around might’ve helped.

At one point, he’d gone back to his drink-making area, where another bartender was working as well. But there was someone else, a man with dark hair and red eyes sitting there, watching drinks being made. But when his eyes fell onto Shizuo, there was a sort of spark that lit them up.

Shizuo moved behind the bar, not noticing those red eyes on him until he’d loaded up a tray ready to bring it around the crowd again. Looking up, he met those eyes just staring along with a smirk ready to kill. Immediately, a hand was shoved into his vision, hovering just over his tray while the owner of it sat on a bar stool, legs crossed.

“Izaya Orihara.”

And there was the voice to accompany it.

Shizuo blinked. This was unusual. Not only was the man Japanese as well, but he was introducing himself, on purpose, to Shizuo. Did he not know who he was, perhaps?

Somewhat reluctantly, Shizuo grasped the hand as lightly as possible to keep his strength in check.

“Shizuo Heiwajima.”

The smirk remained.

“Oh, I do know who you are, Beast of the Bureau.”

It took a reasonable amount of control not to crush that slim, delicate-looking hand in his grasp. Instead, he managed to let it go, but the tension in his face and hand were more than obviously present and Shizuo could see that did not go unnoticed.

“It’s truly a pleasure to meet a legend, you see,” Izaya re-crossed his legs on the stool. “Is it true you can lift an entire motorcar on your own?”

Shizuo let go of the hand as if it had burned him, picked up the tray as delicately as he could possibly manage, and stalked off into the crowd, hoping to find people to take the drinks from the tray.

‘Who the hell did that bastard think he was?’ he thought to himself, frown clear on his face, as people began getting out of his way unknown to Shizuo. He was too busy thinking.

It was, in fact, true that he could lift things like motorcars with little effort, yes but he did not exactly enjoy talking about the topic. Then this little roach comes along and gets right in his face to screw with him like that?

By the time Shizuo makes it back to the bar, the roach is gone.  However, the moment he steps away to serve more to the crowd, he can’t help but feel as though he’s being followed. And he isn’t wrong, those instincts of his rarely are. He sees those eyes at least once each time he stops to hand out a drink. Other times, he feels them at the back of his head.

This time upon his return, he’s back. And he won’t stop talking. Worse, he had earned himself a moniker he had never asked for. And now, he was hearing it over and over.

“Ah, Shizu-chan~”

“Hey, Shizu-chan!”

“Shizu-chan, what are you doing serving drinks?”

“Shizu-chan, are you actually a bartender instead of an agent?”

“How have they let in such a beast into this party, Shizu-chan?”

And each time, Shizuo refrained from punching something or someone. As a teenager, his control was awful but he’s refined it over time with his family’s help. They knew they weren’t going to eliminate his strength but that he could live a normal life with good control.

He was able to keep enough focus to make it through the party until Izaya started following him around again. This time, babbling on and on as they went through the crowd.

“Don’t you think you might kill an innocent with that strength of yours one day?”

“Are you scared of something?”

“Have you ever hurt someone terribly?”

The party began winding down, and when Shizuo neared the restrooms with this clinging annoyance right on this tail, he’d had enough. He reached his limit. The questions had become so incredibly pointed and frighteningly accurate.

Shizuo neared the restroom, Izaya still on his heels. He went inside, and it was miraculously empty. He dropped the empty tray on the ground and tuned around to see his own personal roach standing right behind him. Shizuo grabbed him by the wrist, turn him around, and pushed him against the far wall. Shizuo finally released the punch he’d been wanting to right next to Izaya’s head and into the wall, crumbling the tile to the floor.

Though at first there was a surprised expression on Izaya’s face, those eyes widened in shock, it wasn’t to last for long.

“Hmm~ I’m not scared, you know, Shizu-chan.”

The smirk was back. Shizuo placed his other hand next to Izaya’s head on the other side. And then, it all spilled out despite himself as he leaned in.

“I was serving drinks because everyone is afraid of me. That, or they’d rather not deal with me; it’s easier for them to avoid me. It’s easier to endure gatherings like this if I have something to do like helping the staff. Yes, I was a bartender at one time before I became and agent which is what I really am, correct. It’s true that I’m called the Beast of the Bureau and that was why I was originally drafted in here, so to speak. They took me on in exchange for damages I’d caused to some businesses and the city. Yes, I’ve hurt someone terribly – my own parents and brother with what I’ve put them through in just having me in the family. And I am deathly afraid of harming or killing an innocent.”

Izaya’s face went back to the picture of surprise as Shizuo spoke. By the time he’d finished, Izaya was rendered speechless. His mouth was open slightly, eyes widened, and looking like he wanted to say something, yet there was only silence.

Shizuo leaned back, and turned around to go but before he left the room and then the building to go home, he spoke to Izaya one last time.

“Oh, and thank you,” he said, turning his head just a little to look at Izaya with just the tiniest smile. “For not being afraid of me.”

~

That smirk was back in a black and white suit, all smartly dressed standing by the electric camel. He strode over to Shizuo.

“Well, well, Shizu-chan,” he started. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Shizuo merely huffed in response, and crossed his arms. He knew despite their rocky beginning, it was time for business.

“Yes, a pleasure, I’m sure.”

“Hm~ Down to business then,” he was pulling something out of his own bag. “You’re late, you know. Another five minutes, and I’d have cancelled your mission.”

“Have a look at this.”

He had produced a picture of a bit of an older man dressed in a beige military kind of wear. He was balding, with grey hair and a small mustache.

“A German Colonel named Zeitel. He’s inspecting their embassies in Havana, Washington, and Mexico City. We know better.”

Strange. “Better?”

Izaya put the photo away and elaborated. “Ten days ago, the Bureau got word that Zeitel has in his possession a priceless copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Stolen two months ago in Paris after its purchase by a very highly placed member of his Majesty’s Government.”

“What is this Rubaiyat exactly?”

“The Rubaiyat’s a book. A collection of medieval Persian poetry. A passion of His Lordship’s. In any case, the German top command must think it important enough to have their top man smuggle the lot on board.”

“And what does Zeitel plan to do with it?”

“It’s our job to find out. His Lordship is watching this very closely. Very closely indeed,” he almost appeared intimidated, Shizuo noted. “We can’t fumble this chance either. I don’t know about you, but I don’t much care for the idea of shuffling paper around in some rotting back office for the rest of my career.”

Indeed, he knew the stakes were high. He knew it very personally.

“Is Zeitel alone?”

“No. He’s with a protégé by the name of Haderlitz I believe. The two spend a great deal of time in the Café Perisien, nibbling pastries,” he said airily, as if it were the most foolish thing he’d ever heard of. “We need to get our hands on that book. Try to get into the wireless room. I neither know nor care how. Officer Morrow wouldn’t let me in. See if Zeitel has sent or received any telegrams about the Rubaiyat. You should have a decoder that’ll unscramble German codes.”

He stopped, checking to make sure Shizuo was with him. Shizuo nodded, demonstrating his understanding. Despite the strange way the two had first met, they were getting down to business well.

“I’ll try to see what I can do on my end to find more information among people. That’s my specialty, after all,” he said with a proud grin. “If either of us should find the information of its location, meet at my cabin. I’m in F-34, with the second-class passengers.”

Shizuo nodded. “Seems straight-forward enough.”  
“Ah, and also – 日本語がおぼられませんか?” (“You do remember Japanese, correct?”).

Shizuo quirked a brow.

“もちろんです.” (“Of course, I do.”).

“今から俺のキャビンの以外に、大したことって言ったら、日本語しか使わないほうがいいでしょうね.” (Then wouldn’t you say we should only use Japanese outside of my cabin when speaking of important matters, yes?”).

“分かった.” (“Got it.”).

It made sense, if there was opposition on board and it was found out who Shizuo and Izaya really were, it would at least be beneficial for anything they said to remain secret. It was highly unlikely that their foes knew Japanese. In fact, Shizuo speculated, that might’ve been one reason the two of them were chosen for this.

“Well then, we shall meet sure and sweet again, Shizu-chan~”

He was gone out onto the boat deck before Shizuo could say anything else to him.

Letting out a sigh and crossing his arms, Shizuo stared up at the ceiling before plotting out his next move.

Hm…why did that little roach call him Shizu-chan anyway?

 

 

 

True Facts:

The Rubaiyat is a collection of epigrammatic quatrains written by eleventh-century Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer, Omar Kyayyam. The work was popularized in the West by Edward Fitzgerald’s 1859 translation. An excerpt:  
  
Ah, make most of what we yet may spend,  
Before we too into the Dust may descend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope this one turned out alright. *Gets nervous* Well hopefully you're all still with me, yes? Yes, good, excellent. Well all I've got to say right now is to not expect super predictable update times for any of the fics I have/am involved with-- mainly due to reasons I've stated before. Still, I wont drop anything for good, no, no, no.
> 
> I love you all, and thanks for reading!


	3. 9:45PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are there inconsistent and likely inaccurate German accents in this one and from here on out? Yes......probably.

“Don’tcha love the sea air?”

Well not particularly but sure, why not?

It had started right after his meeting with Shizu-chan. Speaking of Shizu-chan, he’d looked much the same as he had when they’d first met at the annual gathering for the Bureau. In fact, he was even wearing the same thing. What was interesting to Izaya was how well Shizu-chan seemed to remember him.

‘Well, I am rather unforgettable after all~’ he thought, joyfully smiling as he walked past a woman in blue, and back toward the aft of the ship. He’d considered skipping in fact, but it wouldn’t do to have any unnecessary attention drawn to himself while on a mission. That was when an American voice called out to him.

There was a man in a light plaid-colored suit, standing on one of the raised decks, looking toward the sea. He was gesturing with his hand at Izaya while holding a cigarette in the other. Well…this just may be something he could use. This didn’t exactly seem like the kind of person who would lead him to the Rubaiyat but one never knew in this profession. Why, he’d once been able to help find a mass-murderer in Birmingham by first speaking to a little girl who’d randomly taken an interest in him.

But…the sea air? Sure, perhaps if it weren’t so cold outside.

The man inhaled and then exhaled loudly, mouth wide open.

“Really clears out the sinuses!”

Izaya took the opportunity to introduce himself. Interestingly, he didn’t get much farther than that before the man spoke some more.

“Max Seidelmann. Philadelphia, PA. Buyer for Haymakers Department store. The Sharpie of Spruce Street, they call me. You a sporting type? You look like the sporting type. Come on down to the smoking room – Riviera’s looking for someone to play a few hands of Blackjack with him. Whaddya say? Not much else to do. Not tonight,” he shivered dramatically. “Cold as a cast-iron commode out here. So…whaddya say?”

If not Max, then maybe this Riviera may know something – assuming he does spend much of his time in the smoking room.

“Great,” Max responded.

‘He really is quick to chatter,’ Izaya noted.

“First, let’s swing by the Parisien Café. There’s a man there, name of Zeitel, a German,” he lowered his voice before continuing. “Claims he’s a businessman…but he’s got somethin’ up the sleeve, alright – believe me, I know the type. Dollars to doughnuts he’s in some racket…so come on, why don’t’cha? We’ll hit the smoking room from there.”

And that was how Izaya found himself in Café Parisien – nibbling pastries with the enemy.

The room itself was nice, at least. Minimal staff, the décor was mostly white including the flatware. But it had open windows overlooking the deck from the promenade and there was greenery in the room, mostly crawling vines and the like, but it was refreshing to see some plant life.

What was less refreshing to see were the enemy’s faces. Of course, the other party was – or should be – pleasantly unaware of that fact.

“Nice to see ya, Colonel, Willie. How ya doin’?” Max, most expectedly, had initiated conversation right away. “I’d like ya to meet a friend.”

As Max introduced Izaya, he took note that he and Max were apparently friends now. Didn’t take much.

And there he was, the Colonel Zeitel that Izaya had a photo of in his bag. Of course, it’s not as though anyone would need to see into Izaya’s bag (and if for some asinine reason they asked, they’d be quite quickly well-met with his trusty knife) and even then, he could talk his way out of most anything. Next to the Colonel was a younger man, a simple haircut with a simple brown suit looking to be made of wool like many were. This must be the “Willie” Max had just spoken to. Who, also, would not stop staring at Izaya.

“A pleasure,” came the German-accented voice from Zeitel on the left. Though before he spoke further, he had lit and taken a drag from his pipe. “Haderlitz and I, we velcome diversion from such an uneventful passage. Don’t we, Villie?”

“Certainly.” Ah, the protégé Haderlitz. He did seem rather like a stooge to Zeitel.

“Villie is at the University of Vienna, dissecting children’s fables.”

“C-Cultural myssology – it’s quite interesting. Z’ough only a junior professor, I try to interest Dr. Freud. He’s a genius and I- I, uh…”

“Yes, I am sure, quite,” Zeitel interrupted. Was Willie that socially inept that Zetiel felt the need to halt him? Zeitel gave Izaya a…calculating look. “On ze passenger list it said you embarked at Cherbourg. Yet I have not seen you with ze others. You were there, were you not?”

Izaya leaned forward slightly, looking to give nothing away in his body language. “I’m afraid I’ve been feeling a bit ill until recently,” he explained, meeting Zeitel’s stare head on.

“I see,” Zeitel took another long drag from his pipe. “You are British then,” he stated plainly.

Sure, that was his nationality now and Izaya hardly, if at all, had any accent from his homeland, but why point this out? Izaya awaited Zeitel to continue speaking. In his time as an agent, though he was young, Izaya had learned the value of listening while getting others to do the talking for you. He felt quite accomplished in this area, and he almost let slip a smile as he contemplated on his pride on the matter.

“Not so many of you in Titanic’s first-class. Most of the rich these days are Americans. Businessmen like Max,” Izaya glanced over at Max who had shifted, nervously. After another drag from his pipe, Zeitel continued. “Tell me…vhy do you go to New York?”

A truth, but not the real truth.

“I’m on the crossing for business, you see,” Izaya responded, his friendliest smile practically tattooed onto his face.

“Business?” Zeitel took a sip from his drink. “How interesting, considering the British are not so good at it.”

“My, such a harsh opinion, good sir,” Izaya pushed his pastry around on his plate with a fork. “I must express, however, that we British actually excel in some fields of business. Surely Germany is aware of that~” Izaya tilted his head just slightly, inviting a challenge.

So he was playing with fire a little, so what? It was fun. But, Izaya directed the attention back onto Zeitel. He needed information. He needed the Rubaiyat.

“What is it that you do?”

“Me?” Yet another smoke from his pipe. “Inspecting our embassies.”

‘I knew he’d say that,’ Izaya thought. ‘A good cover, but not good enough for us.’

“Imperial Germany desires to make a good impression in North America. Villie is continuing on, to the Vest to conduct research on aboriginal customs.”

Willie broke in. “Ze Indians! Zey are fascinating.”

“Yes, yes, however, I place faith in science, not superstition.”

Max had found his words again. “The colonel was sayin’ this wireless stuff’s revolutionizin’ everything. Sending messages to each other – it’s the end of books and newspapers!”

“Like the Titanic,” Zeitel cut in. “A technological triumph. Here we dine in comfort while racing along at 20 knots, yet still tied to ze outside vorld by the wireless.”

“Zat reminds me – Colonel Zeitel, when I go to send your telegram, zey told me it was to be delayed. There are too many messages – the passengers, they-“

“I am sure out guests do not care to hear a detailed discussion of your encounter with telegraphy.”

Oh…suspicious for sure. And yet, that was almost too convenient. And why did Willie continuously stare at Izaya so much? It was odd, the entire thing.

“Now, if you will excuse me…”

“Please, excuse us.”

“Vhy don’t you call on us tomorrow – here, in the café. Ze Linzer torte is quite passable for a British ship. Stop by. Villie and I welcome it most heartily.”

“Yes, most heartily.”

“And before I go, you must allow me to give you some advice: Do not wander the ship. It is not good, I think, on a ship as large as the Titanic. Good night, friends.”

“Good night.”

They got up to leave, and did so somewhat expediently. After a few moments, Izaya dared to look at Max.

“See? Whaddid I tell ya? What did I say? Them two – up to somethin’, I’d say. The brainy kid gives me the creeps. What a grind. He should hang out with that little blonde – she’s a looker, I tell ya. Come on, let’s hit the smoking room from here.”

Though Izaya had gotten hints on the wireless room, he’d not picked up much else…except that Zeitel seemed to have left something behind – his pipe. Perhaps if he could corner him alone…

“I’m afraid I’ve remembered I do have a little bit of business to attend to…so sorry, Max,” he answered. Not wanting to make enemies, he smiled, hoping that would be enough, and it was.

“Sure, I’ll be up in the smoking room if you change your mind. Good bye.”

Max left, and Izaya picked up the pipe. From what Izaya knew, Zeitel was strangely roomed just a couple of cabins down from Shizu-chan. How that had managed to happen he didn’t know. Well, maybe he’d be able to find Zeitel that way and just maybe, he’d let something slip.

He’d had to make his way back onto the boat deck and back to the grand staircase in order to reach the first-class cabins where Shizu-chan and Zeitel had their rooms. On his way down the stairs, however, there was a man looking at him most oddly. Why were people doing that so much? It was true that there weren’t exactly a lot of Japanese people on board, but still!

“Can I help you~?” Izaya asked the man.

“Oh, hello – don’t think we’ve met. I’m Leyland Secum Trask – metaphysical scribe and evangelist for the supernatural. I’ve been in London attending a conference on premonitions among the sensitive.”

Interesting. Izaya wasn’t sure just how reliable such an…outlandish thing could be, but perhaps there could be help found here.

“Izaya Orihara, a pleasure,” he smiled. “Where are you from?”

“You’ve heard of my institute? The Astral Bureau of Circulation? In Boston?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“The ABC is a place where mediums of impeccable character can co-mingle in harmony.”

Most interesting indeed. So this man was a medium? A psychic? Izaya would put him to the test.

“Are your predictions…reliable?”

“There is a range of course but, given the right training, psychics can reveal information hidden to others.”

Now if that were true…the man could be invaluable.

There would be the one true test, Izaya decided.

“What do you predict for the Titanic…?” he asked, nearly smirking. Even if Trask guessed correctly, it’d still be coincidence, surely.

Trask lowered his voice before speaking.

“This is a ship of destiny,” he looked around. “Which I think…you know.”

~  
*  
~

Not long after Izaya had practically run out of the gymnasium, Shizuo left as well, exiting out onto the boat deck. As he recalled, the wireless room would be on the other side. He could have cut through the grand staircase out to the other side of the boat deck, but he wanted to take the long way around on the boat deck, in hopes of clearing his mind.

So this was his mission – getting a book from his German opposite. It sounded like something that either he or Izaya should be able to manage alone, so why did they assign both of them? Unless, of course, they suspected something much bigger.

“You came!”

Shizuo looked up, and there she was. Brown hair done up, dressed in a bright blue dress with a fur-lined dark green coat on.

“It’s Georgia,” Georgia explained, as if she wanted to make sure Shizuo was who he really was. “I’d heard you were on board – where’ve you been?”

Good question. Where _had_ he been the years before 1912? It was awfully difficult to remember. “I was detained, I’m afraid.”

Georgia looked off to the side, her voice teary. “It’s been five years…I’d have waited a lot longer to see you again. Why didn’t you tell me where you had gone? Kasuka hadn’t a clue, nor did James. My letters were returned…though I don’t blame you for not wanting to speak with me…you once told me I cared for nothing but title…well, I’ve got that now. I’m Lady Georgia. Wife to Charles, Lord Lambeth and…it’s all gone so wrong…just like you to show up now, with my life a horrible mess.”

There were some who might’ve said that she was getting what she deserved, but Georgia was a good woman, a good person. She always had been. If he could this time, he’d help her.

“You must help me…you’ve no doubt heard the rumors.” She looked around, worriedly. “I won’t deny most of them, I can’t.”

He did remember hearing some, but he’d need her to explain.

“Rumors?”

“Even if the money’s gone, I won’t give the diamonds to Charles, never!” she held up a necklace with a series of very large diamonds strung along it. “These are all that remain…my entrance for a new life without Charles…or Sasha.”

Charles was obviously her husband, Lord Lambeth, apparently. But Sasha…?

“Who’s Sasha?”

“Sasha? The owner of the Barbicon Gallery. We’re friends,” she paused, adjusting her coat. “…Of a sort.”

Ah, so that’s how it was. That was a messy business all by itself.

“He’s sailing on the Titanic, taking some paintings to New York to sell.” Georgia looked around again, uneasy. “Please…I mustn’t talk any longer,” she held out the necklace to Shizuo. “Take it, please. Take the necklace, it’s my only chance now. Keep it for me. And don’t tell Charles you have it – you can’t know what he’s like.”

And with that, Georgia raced away, making her way back around the boat deck the way Shizuo had come from.

He put the necklace in his satchel.

That had been almost as little as he’d found out last time. Last time, he’d been too upset with her to end up being able to find out nearly as much as he had last time and then had run around looking for her. Still, he’d gleaned much more information on her situation this time and learned a few things.

Continuing along the boat deck, he pushed Georgia’s issue to the back of his mind. As hard as it was to see his old friend in such dire straits, not to mention alive again, he had to put the mission first. Toward the area where the bridge was, was the wireless room. And an officer was standing by. This had to be the Officer Morrow that Izaya had mentioned.

Quite quickly, the officer approached him. He was bearded, and dressed in a dark blue button-down coat with a white hat – it appeared to be the outdoor uniform for the officers.

“Good evening. Third Officer Morrow, here. I am sorry, but this is the officer’s promenade. No passengers allowed.”

It would be pointless to ask about the wireless room directly.

“The sea appears calm,” Shizuo commented. Maybe he could get some information about just what was happening with the staff this night. Were they at all given clues to the upcoming disaster? Did they have any idea?

“Yes, very calm.”

Good, get him talking.

“You seem, perhaps, worried about something.”

Shizuo couldn’t actually tell this, it was a shot in the dark. But it turned out he was right. Even better, despite his professional demeanor, the man turned out to be chattier than expected.

Morrow glanced up at the sky. “No moon. I don’t like that; can’t see what’s coming. No moon means surprises…as if we don’t have enough already. Mr. Ismay, the White Star Line’s President is on board. We’re walking eggshells around him, I tell you,” he chuckled almost jovially. “Though that’s nothing compared to the creeping about my brother-in-law is doing at the moment; His entire London office is in an uproar.”

“An uproar?”

“Tom works in the admiralty. It seems our plans for troop deployments against Germany disappeared three weeks ago. Tom says the big boys are afraid the Gerrys will get wind of it. Could upset the balance of power,” he scoffed. “Politics. Desktop espionage. Bureaucrats. Pah – gimme the sea…you can toss the rest.”

“So you don’t care much for politics?”

“Never have. Not since the war.”

A war, huh?

“Which war was that, if I may ask?”

“South Africa. Boer War. The officer was a drinker. He was drunk when they trapped us out on the belt. On a moonless night – it was a massacre. We never saw them coming. Drink always leads to the devil.”

Morrow was quite sure in his convictions on these topics, but Shizuo couldn’t blame him, all considered. It dawned on him.

“Then, it’s no wonder moonless night make you jumpy.”

Officer Morrow thought for a moment. “An interesting connection. For all I know, it could be true. A man has his troubles – sick child, away from home. But I hate whiners and apologizers. But thank you for your insight.”

“Not at all,” Shizuo smiled. “If it’s alright, may I visit the wireless room?”

By now, Officer Morrow had relaxed substantially. “Have a look, why don’t you? Mind you, Phillips will have my head if he finds you in there, but I don’t see any harm in it. Go on in.”

Then, he left to stand near the stairs to the A deck promenade.

Shizuo had expected more of a struggle than that, but luckily the man was more of a talker than he’d expected. But disappearing plans…he’d have to remember about that, and mention it to Izaya – maybe he knew something.

The wireless room was small, and the set up for the telecommunication appeared simple enough, though running it was not on Shizuo’s agenda. Interestingly, the entire system appeared to be turned off, in fact. But it was the incoming and outgoing telegrams he needed to check. Nothing in the incoming of relevance, but there was something in the outgoing that struck him as suspicious.

8754  
  
ANHQSPPAIXWBFCXY  
  
AM  
  
There was something coded, for certain. Shizuo stuffed it away into his satchel. With nothing else catching his eye in the wireless room, Shizuo exited, and made his way to the nearest staircase, going through the doors to the Grand Staircase, down to C-Deck, past a waving Smethells, and past the Purser’s Office to his room. Time to decode a German message.

~  
*  
~

Izaya nearly stiffened up like a board. It took everything he had to not let his absolute shock show on his face. His toes had even curled up in fear.

Yes, fear – this was wholly unexpected and had to be impossible.

He swallowed harshly. Those words didn’t necessarily demonstrate the fact that Izaya was from the future, but it did indicate that Trask knew that Izaya knew the importance of this voyage and the fate in store for the Titanic as well.

After several moments of simply staring at Trask, he decided to try something – having proved to himself Trask’s ability. Shaking off any remnants of anxiety, Izaya cleared his throat and spoke again, and produced Zeitel’s pipe.

“Would you be willing to do a reading on this…?”

Trask held the pipe and looked off to random corner near the stairs.

“Hm,” he held the palm of his hand up to the pipe, closing his eyes briefly. “You know, a medium once told me the only danger in my life would come on water. Salt or fresh, he didn’t say…dammit all, I wish they’d be more specific,” he paused.

Izaya found his statement to be painfully ironic.

“This pipe has been somewhere quite humid recently. I’d visit the Turkish Bath…good luck.”

A real honest to goodness lead. And from the least expected place at that.

Izaya smiled genuinely. Despite how incredibly…shaken he’d been, Trask had done him quite the favor.

“Thank you.”

Trask nodded, smiling as well. “Good night.”

Izaya hurried off to a set of stairs that could take him to F-Deck, and thus the Turkish Bath.

Arriving there after hurrying for quite a while through the ship, he went through the door to the baths to find the place quite empty. ‘Well, it is late on a Sunday night, after all,’ he thought.

The entire room’s décor was quite garish, he thought. Too many colors combined in too many ways. How could one relax in here? he thought. No matter.

Looking around the room, seeing the multiple baths and sinks, he formulated a plan. It was certainly not humid in there right now, and from his impression of what Trask had said, it’d need to be.

Izaya felt the quickest way to make it happen was to turn on all the hot water from the sinks all at once and wait. Something should make itself known, shouldn’t it?

It took a while for the room to steam up as it was meant to but once it did, Izaya went around the room, looking for anything important.

What he found was a gold mine.

On a fogged-up mirror was a message that had previously been drawn, it looked like.

_SASHA, LEFT RUBAIYAT IN BOILER ROOM 3, COAL CHUTE 4. WILL SEND MY MAN FOR PAINTING. -ZEITEL_

And there, it couldn’t be more perfect!

They had it now – the location of that damned book. And what was this about a painting? He’d have to go through his information for more on this.

Still, he made a mental note of the location, turned off the sinks, and did his best to look casual heading back to his cabin down the second-class stairwell.

~  
*  
~  
Shizuo was setting up the decoder machine inside of his trunk. It didn’t take much effort, it was merely connecting some wires, turning the thing on, setting it to the numbers on the telegram, and then typing the numbers in on the provided corresponding letters given on the machine.

Finally, he pushed the switch to “decode”, and out came a printed message.

_Rubaiyat hidden in boiler room 3, coal chute 4. SB will deliver painting after pick-up. Will confirm…Zeitel._

Grinning a boy-ish grin, Shizuo had to stop himself from dancing around his cabin – finally, they had it! Now to meet up with Izaya and…where the hell were the boiler rooms at?

~  
*  
~  
Izaya had waited for this for a long time. Far too long.

Shizu-chan was in his room.

Well, it wasn’t his room, really. It was that damn second-class F-deck cabin of his on the god-forsaken Titanic of all places. Still, he’d dreamed of this somehow being possible after the sinking for such a long time. He didn’t know exactly why or how he’d been thrown back in time to this night, but he was going to take full advantage of it. He acknowledged the possibility that this was merely a dream, but he couldn’t dismiss it as such either.

Back then, after the sinking, he had foolishly stuck his neck out a bit, trying to save Shizuo’s job – it’d be the only way he might see the blond man again. But it wasn’t to be, the higher-ups needed their scapegoat. Granted, the two of them had completely managed to flub the mission with Shizuo failing to show up at his summons all those years ago. Izaya would have insisted to himself on finding him that night- Izaya hadn’t known just who his subordinate was supposed to be that first time around. Or perhaps trying to complete the mission himself – had he known just how badly everything would have gone. Izaya knew just enough now that the completion of their mission might just stop the World Wars from happening. On a more personal note, this new time around would be his chance to get closer to Shizuo.

When they’d met, Izaya had sought him out. Who wouldn’t? The Beast of the Bureau – absolutely fascinating. A man, they said, who could lift a motorcar with no effort. A man who was smart enough to be brought onto the Bureau, and a man who was apparently a loner who could have an explosive temper. That night at the party, Izaya tested that temper and got the absolute unexpected. He got brutally-controlled honesty. He saw the strength of the Beast, but also the pure humanity in those eyes, in that voice.

He was enthralled. From then on, he knew he’d get and then keep his Shizu-chan in his life.

He might have succeeded eventually too, had things not gone so horribly awry on this mission before.

This was his chance.

Izaya sat on his bed, while Shizuo sat in a chair in the fairly small, drab room.

“So, Shizu-chan, did you find out anything?”

“As a matter of fact, Roach, I did.”

Izaya put on his best pout. “Well how cruel – such a rude thing to call a person.”

“It’s your fault, you wouldn’t go away at that party – couldn’t shake you ‘til the end.”

Izaya crossed his legs. “Well you certainly won’t be able to do that now, unless you’d like us to fail our mission, you know, Shizu-chan.”

“I know,” Shizuo sighed lightly. “Hey, why do you call me that, anyway?”

Izaya chuckled. “Now that – is a secret, Shizu-chan~”

Shizuo rolled his eyes. “Of course, a secret agent keeping a secret, who would have guessed?”

Izaya’s eyes lit up and he laughed with delight. It didn’t escape Izaya’s notice how Shizuo’s face changed after that. He seemed more relaxed, maybe even happy.

“Well then, down to business, shall we? From what I found, we may only have so much time.”

Shizuo nodded in agreement.

He summarized for Shizuo what had happened. “Be careful around the two of them, should you come across them. I didn’t like the questions coming from Zeitel. They were vague, but a little too pointed,” Izaya warned. “I don’t know yet what to make of Willie, but he was looking at me in a peculiar sort of way.”

“Ok, that does seem creepy…but this Trask guy – you’re making it sound like he’s a legitimate psychic,” Shizuo carried on the conversation. Izaya had avoided telling Shizuo about the Titanic question, it wouldn’t do for Shizuo to think he was insane, now would it?

“In fact, he is. I can tell.”

Shizuo shrugged. It wasn’t as though he could judge on what was possible anymore. Meanwhile, he produced the piece of paper taken from the decoding machine.

“That’s perfect – we have physical evidence of it now,” Izaya said excitedly, filing it away in his information and notes. “So you managed to talk your way through that officer?”

“Yes, he’s a pleasant sort, luckily,” Shizuo rubbed the back of his head, looking as though he was trying to think of something. Izaya waited.

“Ah, that’s it – he mentioned that there are apparently missing plans. Plans for our troops deployment – do we know anything about that?”

Izaya turned to his things quickly, nearly tearing at some of it. He flipped through many files and notes as Shizuo watched the flurry of activity in wonder.

“I just might…this may have a connection to our mission,” Izaya said hurriedly. “But both notes that we found mention a painting…that’s the thing Zeitel’s really after.”

Some pieces were starting to come together. Even so…

“We still need to get our hands on the Rubaiyat. I don’t know what this Sasha wants with it, but…we need it back.”

Shizuo had decided to relay one more thing to Izaya. It had clearly taken him some effort to do so, Izaya noticed, but it was a lucky thing he did.

“So, your friend Georgia knows this man?” Izaya considered it. If she did, she could be a valuable lead about the painting. If she happened to know more then they might be able to find out its value. If so, then he could decide whether or not to try and beat Zeitel to it, assuming he didn’t find mention of this in his information.

Without turning around to face Shizuo, Izaya nodded to himself, thinking. “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. I will go after the Rubaiyat,” he stated, turning back around away from his notes and back to Shizuo. “The entrance to the engine room is nearby, so it’ll be simple. As for you – poke around the ship a bit and see if there’s more information you can get on the painting. I would try to find the cargo manifest and check that to see if there are paintings there by this Sasha’s gallery,” Izaya looked down to the floor, still in thought. “Go ahead and continue to help your friend, Georgia. It sounds like she may know some things. Her husband might as well…I’d like you to see what you can do in terms of getting us more information. Meanwhile, I’ll get the Rubaiyat and keep looking through my things. Hopefully, the Bureau has more information on this Sasha for us,” Izaya relaxed his posture, bracing himself for the upcoming task.

“Watch people and listen. Should you find where this painting is and any proof that we should obtain it, I give you permission to do so,” Izaya picked up his bag. “Once I’ve gotten the Rubaiyat we can meet again here, or, I’ll find you on the ship but try to find me here whenever you’re able, it’ll be quite important we exchange information as quickly and discreetly as possible.”

“Alright, agreed.”

Shizuo nodded seriously.

They both knew, unbeknownst to each other just what was truly riding on this mission.

They could not fail.

 

 

 

True Facts:

Unknown to many, the iceberg did not, in fact, rip an enormous gash into the ship’s side as is often popularly imagined. When the wreck of the Titanic was found in 1986, it was discovered that the ice had applied tremendous pressure to the side, enough to force the hull plates inward and pop the rivets holding them together, opening a narrow seam along over two hundred feet of the 883-foot length of the ship. The actual impact was so slight that few of the ship’s passengers realized anything was amiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading @3@ It does my brain so much good (and also probably my heart probably).


	4. 10:00PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed much later after posting this that there were a bunch of letters, mostly Gs in the middle of a paragraph - I think my cat tried her hand at helping me at some point when I was sleeping or something. XD

As soon as Shizuo left, Izaya sighed in relief. Now he could loosen up a little and relax. Not that he’d ever let Shizuo know this, but he’d been nervous. Nervous that perhaps Shizuo would see through him. Rumor had it at the Bureau that the Beast was perceptive. Moreover, Izaya had poured over Shizuo’s prior mission files and it did seem to be the case. If Shizuo figured it out…Izaya couldn’t bear the thought.

He took a deep breath, and adjusted his bag which hung from his shoulder. He left his room, looking for the way down to the boiler rooms. He knew it was around here somewhere, he could tell from the map, even though passengers were most definitely not allowed down there.

In fact, there was a twisting hallway right near his room that became twisting stairs leading downward. The result was a door to the turbine room. There was a faint humming of perhaps electricity in the turbine rom. It was a large space, filled with machinery and there was almost nothing that was brown. Izaya found himself on a catwalk, moving around turns, passing steps leading down to the floor, and then walked to the other side of the room. Through this door was clearly the control room and Izaya found out when he was immediately approached by a crew member in a White Star Line sweatshirt.

“Wot there? A passenger?” he looked put off. “I can’t regulate the steam for boilers one and two. So I don’t have time for you, you’re where you shouldn’t be. Get up top! ‘Fore you’re kicked up there.”

Show time.

“You see, my good man, I’m on official business,” Izaya started as he held out his hand in greeting. The crew member automatically reached out to take it. “Boss was notified and sent me down to help.”

“Oh, with White Star, are ya? I’m glad you’ve come. I’m having major issues with this control panel.”

Izaya smiled. “It’s your lucky day – perhaps I may be of some assistance.”

The man considered this. “Well, I doubt it; she’s really acting up. Go on, see for yourself.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Have at it. There’s a gauge showing the power output. The needle’s got to move into the green zone,” he gestured Izaya closer to him. “Over here.”

Izaya made his way to the area and had a look before doing anything. Now, had this been his first time around on the Titanic, he wouldn’t have a single clue as to what to do. But in his future, he’d done some work on engines and boilers, sometimes even relating to missions and so he felt confident that he could swing this well enough to work, even if it was older machinery than what he was more accustomed to.

There were several valve knobs, a main lever, and a couple of handles that he could move and they were all held in place by a series of pipes, many of them having gauges alongside them. He identified the gauge that had the green section on it, it had a 100 inside of the section. But the needle was pointed at 0 right then. There was a water tank, a condenser, and a couple of water pumps as well.

Time to show off.

Izaya turned the three knobs as far as they would go counter-clockwise. The water pumps he left alone, but the boiler lever he threw up, almost to the top of its range and that was enough to push the needle into the green zone. Izaya brushed his hands together. Not too shabby at all.

A voice came over his shoulder. “Right smart, you were. She’s running much smoother now. Say…since you were interested, go on, have a peek in the engine room. She’s quite a sight.”

Izaya hadn’t really implied that, but the man must’ve been distracted. ‘Regardless, it’s certainly to my advantage.’ He knew that just beyond the engine room were the boiler rooms.

Through the door, Izaya found himself on a catwalk of sorts again. It wound around huge machinery which was quite impressive to see. Unfortunately, however, he didn’t have the luxury of time on his side. If Sasha had gotten down there first…

He passed a set of stairs going up this time, not knowing where it led to. But just beyond that was a door to…yes, a boiler room!

He was still on a catwalk, overlooking the whole area where men were working, shoveling coal into huge furnaces. But the noise was so loud, there was no way anyone would notice him. There were ladders leading down either side, and he could see where there were five very large coal chutes with smaller panels next to them. The chutes were numbered one through five.

‘That has to be it,’ he thought. He just needed to get to the third boiler room now, and check out the panel for chute four. He continued through to the door on the other side, finding the next boiler room to be identical. So the next room would be boiler room three, no doubt.

And that room, he found, was also looking just the same. There was one main difference, however. A man with a close-shaved head and wearing a shabby brown coat was standing there on the catwalk, and had been looking right at Izaya. The man approached and as he did so, Izaya could see better that the man was also a bit dirty, likely from being down here.

“Excuse me, you are a passenger – I would speak with you.” An accent of some kind, though Izaya couldn’t place it.

“What did you need~?” Izaya responded.

“Forgive me, I do not mean to intrude on you, a person of such high station,” he began, with a forced and tired smile. “I am Vlad.”

“What seems to be the trouble, Vlad?”

“I have many troubles. I am leaving my home. I am a Serb and they have killed my wife, my children. The _Austrians_ …for that, they will pay,” he said, angrily. “But – I do not want to burden you. Please, I need a favor.”

Why was it that Izaya was forseeing a night filled with favors to be done?

“I have a friend in first-class in cabin A-14., Mr. Barbicon has a package for me. Can you bring it here?”

Barbicon…Shizuo had told him that Sasha ran the Barbicon Gallery…could it be?

“You’re not able to get it yourself?”

“No, I am a stowaway. If I am caught, maybe they throw me overboard. Please, I have eaten nothing since we set sail. Save for a rat who was not so lucky.”

Then there was only one thing for it.

“What’s your friend’s name?”

Vlad looked off to the side. “His name is Barbicon in A-14. Tell him you’ve come from Vlad, he will give you the package. I will wait here for your return. Your assistance will be repaid manifold.”

Vlad then left him, and went down one of the ladders, retreating to what appeared to be a hidden space on the side of coal chute one.

Now would be his chance. So this Vlad was working for Sasha, no doubt about it. Izaya thought for a moment. He could try to go get the Rubaiyat now, and leave it at that. But Sasha needed to be identified…he’d have to go and bring the package back. Perhaps the package had some new clothes and a bag for Vlad to carry the Rubaiyat in…and bring it to Sasha.

The biggest mystery was still what Sasha and Vlad wanted with it. It had to be something major.

Now back to the debate. It would be risky to take the Rubaiyat with him now, especially with Vlad there. But if he waited to take it…it’d be too late. Izaya looked over to where Vlad was, by the coal chute one. It seemed he was faced away, distracted by…rats. Izaya grimaced – he wasn’t going to judge a starving man, but it was still rather unpleasant to think about.

But this might be his chance. The whole room was so loud that as long as Vlad wasn’t looking, he’d be able to make a move. He climbed down the ladder that was on the side of coal chutes four and five. Checking over to see Vlad still looking at the rats, Izaya moved to the fourth chute and opened the panel box. There was a switch for raising and lowering the door of the chute but more importantly, there it was – the jewel-encrusted Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Izaya couldn’t help but smile. ‘Perfect.’

He picked up the book, closing the panel. However, he wasn’t going to leave with it. Not yet. He went to the panel for coal chute five, and placed the book inside of it, then closed the panel. He looked over to where Vlad was hiding again to see him having caught a rat just then.

Izaya quickly climbed back up onto the catwalk, and made his way back the way he’d came. It was a risk – no matter what he’d decided to do. There was no avoiding it, really.

He made his way out of the boiler rooms, through the engine room, waved his thanks to the crew member in the control room, then hurried through the turbine room and made his way up all of the stairs back to F-deck, and back to his room.

He needed to find information on Sasha, and quickly. The addition of Vlad was unexpected. Rummaging through the information he’d been given by the Bureau, he hunted again for anything about Sasha that he could find.

And – how could he have missed this?? There it was…Zeitel’s Titanic contact is a London art dealer named Sasha Barbicon. In the notes, it stated that he smuggles art and isn’t above selling stolen merchandise.

Izaya rubbed his face in frustration, discovering he’d gotten coal on it by the looks of his hands. While washing his face with a cloth, he read on.

It seemed Sasha was also half-Serbian, with links to a few very shady Balkan groups. He froze up. These groups included the Black Hand. In the future, they were known to have been involved and connected to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand…the Black Hand was viewed as having contributed to the start of World War I.

So that was it, was it? The goal. Now just how was the Rubaiyat supposed to help with that? He’d have to confirm his suspicions with Shizuo but for now, it was time to go get a package and meet Sasha himself.

~  
*  
~  
  
Shizuo spent a few moments searching the boat deck once he’d left Izaya’s room. He needed more information from Georgia, that was for certain. He thought she might be outside once again, though he couldn’t be sure. It was true that he could look up her cabin in the passenger list kept by the Purser, but Charles might answer their door instead…

But there she was, he could see her out on the A-deck promenade. The promenade was right under the boat deck, so it was covered, and had glassless windows to see the ocean. Toward the stern there were stairs up to the boat deck, or stairs going down that could take one to the forecastle deck. But toward the bow, there was a part of the promenade not covered, and that was where he’d seen her from the boat deck. He went down the stairs leading to the promenade, then went down the stretch up toward the bow of the ship, where she was standing, watching the ocean.

When he got close enough, Georgia noticed and turned, walking toward him.

“I knew you’d find me,” she said, clearly relieved.

“What’s happened?”

“Charles received a telegram,” her expression was upset. “It was from the solicitors – our estate is to be sold off. He asked about the necklace I gave you – I told him I left it with the Purser. Don’t say anything to him, or Sasha. Not him and his group of – oh, there’s so much more to tell you. Can you meet me in my stateroom? I’m in B-70. It’s Charles’ custom to go to the smoking room for drinks. When he does, visit me.”

And with that, she turned and left in a hurry once again.

‘She must be quite anxious,’ he thought. And why wouldn’t she be? Their home was being taken, she had two men against her, or so it seemed. He’d wait a bit and then go check her room.

In the meantime, he wondered how Izaya was fairing. He hoped everything was going well. The future was riding on it, after all. But Izaya felt reliable to him. Besides, he was the higher-up for their mission and had more information from the Bureau. However, he wasn’t the one who was from the future either. Shizuo found himself grinding his teeth with worry. But what was there to worry about? It was just the roach, he’d be fine. And even if he weren’t, it wouldn’t be the end of everything, Shizuo was still there after all. But at the thought, he felt an odd pang in his chest.

‘It doesn’t matter that the roach’s smile and laugh were attractive, damnit,’ he thought to himself. Indeed, he could admit that it was simply a stated truth, but nothing more. And that maybe the roach was attractive by himself. And smart too. Not to mention skilled, considering his fairly high position in the Bureau. ‘That isn’t the point, he’s still annoying.’ But then…he remembered in the future – Izaya had tried to save his job. They hadn’t even met after that first time at the party, even though they were apparently supposed to have done this mission together before as well, but Shizuo’s boss had even mentioned that ‘Orihara certainly attests to your loyalty,’ but the question about that was…why? That made no sense. Had he made some kind of impact on the roach at the party? And if so, what was it?

It was confusing. And Shizuo now found himself in the Aft Grand Staircase. It looked nearly identical to the Grand Staircase, even the black and white tiling on the floor. It only ran from A-deck to C-deck, however. No access to the outside. But there on B-deck was a familiar face. Though not really one, even after all those years, that he wanted to deal with now.

Too late. She approached in her teal blue dress with her hair done up inside a black feathery hat with faux pearls around her neck. Her loud voice began to echo across the deck as she spoke at him.

“But my dear, it’s Daisy – Daisy Cashmore, surely you remember,” she began. “Aren’t you a naughty thing? Don’t think I didn’t know you’d snuck on at Cherbourg,” she stated, wagging her finger at him. “Smethells told me all about it – the old boy’s always dripping with news. I heard about Lord and Lady Lambeth,” she continued, with a giggle. “Ruined utterly! Scarcely enough left for appearances, I’m told. I always liked Georgia. Married Charles for his name and fortune, sensible girl. But she’s made her nest…now, she must live in it. Well~” she was pausing for a breath here, and almost awaiting permission to keep talking.

Shizuo recalled that talking was something Daisy was quite good at, though she was even better at gossiping. Which just might be useful to him, interestingly enough.

“Please, tell me more.”

“What do we think? Gorgeous, isn’t it? Everyone’s raving, gushing! The Titanic – couldn’t be more fabulous. And the sailing, couldn’t be more convenient. Everyone’s here. The Astors, the George Wideners, the Countess of Roth – such a wonderful girl, the Strauses – I saw them on D-deck tonight, the Raisons, the Henry Harpers, I could just go on and on! And the ship is so very advanced – I was just saying to my dear friends the Carters. They’re bringing back a motorcar, do you believe – in the cargo hold! Bill Carter checks it daily. Really, every day. He keeps the keys with the Purser, and of course they let them; the Carters are fantastically rich. Lucille doesn’t understand the attraction at all. With men and machines, I tell her, we girls play second fiddle. Well~”

“Do continue,” though it pained him to say it, he never knew when she might say something of importance. He was looking for information, after all.

“My dear, I have a favor to ask of you. A teensy, teensy, tiny one.”

Shizuo nodded, and she continued.

“Tonight, at dinner, a man – I don’t know – was making eyes at me. Be an absolute darling and find out who he is - look him up in the passenger list – all I know are is initials, G.Q.C. The list is someplace, I’ll wait right here. Ta~!”

The list was with the Purser, he knew. She must have seen this man pull out his handkerchief with his initials embroidered on it. How else would that be the one bit of information she had?

Checking his watch, it hadn’t been long since he had talked to Georgia. He could check on her after doing this for Daisy.

He could access the cabins from here, and went into the hallway of the B-deck cabins. Following the length of it to the other side, he emerged into the Grand Staircase, and then went down to the C-deck, where the Purser’s office was.

Inside, everything was made of wood. There was a bell and a small book sitting on the ledge before a wooden sliding window, presumably where the Purser was. Shizuo knocked on the wood, and it slid open revealing a man in full uniform for his job. A navy suit and tie, with a dark hat on as well.

“Yes, can I help you?”

“I require assistance…”

“As Purser, I can arrange dinner reservations, rent deckchairs, the usual shipboard duties.”

“I’d like to check the passenger list.”

“Have you a name? If you do, I can tell you their cabin number.”

“Well, it’s just…a man with the initials G.Q.C.”

The Purser looked slightly confused at the request, but then went through a clipboard with a fair number of sheets of paper on it.

“Ah ha, Mr. George Quincy Clifford, A-27.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“I live to serve.”

Slightly creepy, but…fine.

“Good night.”

“That’s all then, is it? Good night.”

And the wood panel slid shut. Shizuo left the room.

Climbing up the stairs again to B-deck, he made his way through the cabins, and to the Aft Grand Staircase, where Daisy was sitting on a small sofa across from the stairs. She got up and came over to him right away.

“Did you get it – get his name?”

“Yes, it’s George Quincy Clifford.”

“Clifford. Clifford. Never heard of him,” she gasped. “You don’t suppose he’s rich, do you?”

Well he did apparently have an embroidered handkerchief.

“Could be filthy…”

“You’re an angel! And, I have news for you too!”

News so quickly?

“While you were gone, Andrew Conkling’s been asking for you. Yes, Conkling – the steel baron. God knows what he’s been doing in Europe – buying it, probably. And – where was I? Oh, yes. Andrew Conkling asked me to pass along this.”

She handed Shizuo a small card from Titanic stationary. She held it out, and he read the card.

_A matter of extreme urgency requires your attention. Meet me in the Scotland Road._

_A.C._

And of course, meanwhile, Daisy was speaking. He really needed a cigarette. Where was a pack of Old Reds when you needed them?

“You know his wife Beatrix, the designer? Such an eye! Her clothes preserve the bust line, couldn’t be more flattering; keeps the eye moving. Much better than Worth’s.”

Shizuo looked back up at her.

“They’re friends with Captain Smith. Smith – so handsome, so dashing! White Star’s best officer, or was…he’s retiring after this voyage, couldn’t be more tragic.”

It could be more tragic, in fact. In Shizuo’s future, Smith had gone down with the ship, drowning at the age of 62. His body had never been recovered.

“My dear, you’ve blanched – bad news?”

Ah, he’d let the thought show on his face. It was time to go.

“I must say good night here, Daisy.”

“Certainly, certainly, I must-“ she gasped. “It’s Mrs. Borbeck! Consuelo!”

And she was off. Shizuo took the opportunity to head into the B-deck cabins area.

He made his way to B-70 easily, and knocked on the door.

It opened slightly, and Georgia’s voice came out. “Enter.”

He went inside the room, noting the queen-sized bed and that the décor was similar to his own room, but it was mostly in blues and greens.

Georgia started.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she confided.

“I’m here to help,” Shizuo told her, smiling. It was true, he did want to help her if he could.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “First, I want to know how you’ve faired the last years, rather well, from the looks of you. I’m glad to see you. You’re the only person I can trust, so please…promise that you’ll help?”

It wouldn’t hurt. “I promise.”

“You always were there when I needed you. Now, with my life such a beastly mess.”

“Tell me the story.”

“When Charles discovered my affair with Sasha, he was quite calm. But I know him, you see. His revenge is taking the necklace – leaving me with nothing. And Sasha – I’d never trust him again. Don’t you see? They’re looking for guns, for bombs!”

“They?”

“Sasha’s friends. His gallery was their London base. They were rough men, foreign. Sasha told me they were part of a Balkan aid society. Stupid girl that I was, I believed him. But then I found out, these people, they-“

A door opened and closed.

“Charles!”

A man in a black tuxedo with short, dark grey hair had entered the room, and cut in on the conversation.

“Please, Georgia, continue – was it my title or my money you found so desirable? I was never sure. Now that both assets are depleted, why don’t you go to Sasha? Maybe he can help…as he’s done before.”

“Ignore him,” Georgia spoke to Shizuo. “I can see the smoking room has had its usual effect.”

“Idle gossip, apparently,” Charles drawled.

“You see, his attitude? Please, go.”

“Since she obviously can’t depend on me, here, take the chill out of the air,” Charles handed Shizuo an opened bottle of whiskey. “Thank you for seeing after my wife. Now I think it best you leave the happy couple, drowning in their happiness. Good night.”

Before Shizuo left the room completely, Georgia dashed after him, and managed to whisper, “Remember, I need your help.”

And the door shut behind him.

Georgia had been so close to revealing something, if only Charles hadn’t come in…perhaps he could find her again? Chances are she or perhaps both of them would leave their room again. Doubtless, they were going to have a fight. Shizuo left the whiskey in the hallway, and set off.

He automatically went to the boat deck, but never saw Georgia there. He tried the A-deck promenade and didn’t find here there either. But he did see her from where he was – she was tucked away, sitting on a bench not far from the poop deck. She looked upset, as expected.

Shizuo made his way to the second-class stairwell from the boat deck. The B-deck from there would let him out to where Georgia was. On his way, he almost ran into yet another person.

“A fine night to be indoors, cold as the dickens outside. Cold, but clear.”

The man was plainly dressed in brown, and holding a King James bible in his arm, with little hair on his head. He was somewhat older, but to Shizuo, he looked like a fish. Eyes that seemed a little too big as well as the mouth.

Truthfully, he wanted to reach Georgia as soon as he could. “Please, excuse me.”

But the man kept talking. Why did this keep happening?

“-Clear as a bell, and the stars, oh, you should see a million stars in God’s firmament. A congregation of light.”

The man then proceeded to introduce himself. “The name’s Troutt. The Reverend Edgar Troutt.” Shizuo returned the favor, and Troutt kept going.

“I’m returning from a mission in Nyasaland to Sunapee, New Hampshire. Where we li-“ he sighed, interrupting himself. “I mean, I live. Emily, my wife, she’s dead.”

A true shame. “My sympathies.”

“Thank you. We had looked forward to this journey, but she died at Port Said. Though it was Nyasaland that killed her – the doctors, you know, never did find all of the parasites.” From here, the man rapidly switched topics. “Calling on Mr. Orihara?” Shizuo snapped to attention. “He has been invaluable this voyage, a real pillar. Oh, yes, we’re very glad he’s with us.”

That seemed unlike the roach that Shizuo knew. There had to be more to him, then. Apparently, he’d been helping out the other passengers these last few days? Had he simply gone out of his way to annoy Shizuo before at that party? If so, why was that? And as he thought about it, what was the reason for the ‘Shizu-chan’? There had to be something critical he was missing. ‘And he did help me before,’ he reminded himself. ‘And even though it does happen to coincide with our mission a bit, he’s letting me help Georgia too.’ He’d have to make more note to watch and pay attention to the roach when they met again.

Then Troutt switched topics yet again. “Have you met Trask?” Shizuo nodded in affirmation. “Be wary of him – Trask is a trickster. Tempting the passengers with his occult mysteries…but, you must like this section of the Titanic, second-class, I mean. You can get to Scotland Road, from here. Do you know it, Scotland Road?”

Scotland Road was a long hallway that traversed the port side of E-deck. It enabled crew members and steerage passengers to move from one end of the ship to other, quickly. Shizuo had found this out his first time on the Titanic.

“I do, in fact. But I’m afraid I must be going, good night.”

“Wait, before you leave – I was wondering if perhaps you would care to make a donation to our mission in Nyasaland.”

It wouldn’t matter what he said really, Shizuo knew. It was late to discuss this, so he could say they’d talk about it tomorrow when Shizuo knew that’s not what would be happening.

“Certainly, let’s talk about it later.”  
  
“I am very happy – I’ll call on you tomorrow, and we can talk all about it then. Good evening.”

There was something slightly off about the man, and Shizuo wasn’t sure what it was exactly. Well, it was likely he was still grieving.

Exiting out of the B-deck toward the poop deck, he found Georgia, still sitting on the bench.

Approaching her, she got up and started talking.

“Please, I must apologize. Charles – well, you see how it is. We quarreled again. I left…for a walk.”

“An interesting place for a walk, isn’t it?”

“Well, I suppose,” she admitted, looking around. “This is the steerage section, isn’t it? And all these people – headed for the new world, for a new life. I think I know how they feel.”

The steerage class, or third-class, was mainly full of immigrants heading for America, most of them quite poor.

“So, please tell me about Sasha’s friends.”

“They stole something. Something valuable. What, I don’t know. But Sasha is to sell it secretly in America. I told him it was immoral. He laughed, telling me I, who married for position, shouldn’t quibble about morality. Said if I told anybody, he’d publicize our affair and ruin me. So, I said nothing…though I’m afraid they’ll do something terrible with all that money.”

That was a definite lead. Finally, something valuable to give to Izaya. But if he was going to help Georgia, he’d need a bit more information.

“Did Charles leave the room?”

“Oh, he’s probably in the smoking room. Or, looking for my necklace…if he can see straight.”

“Then, you should get some rest,” he smiled, and she did too.

“Take good care of my necklace. Return it to me in New York, we’ll be there soon enough…good night.”

Now Shizuo had decided to sit down once she left. He needed to decide what to do next.

Right. First, he’d go find Conkling and see what he wanted. Scotland Road was accessible from just a few decks down, after all. He’d take care of the likely favor and then he’d hopefully find Charles in the smoking room and with any luck, the alcohol would make him amicable and talkative. Finally, he’d check in with Izaya who would hopefully be all set with the Rubaiyat by then.

He looked up at the stars, and let his mind wander briefly. His thoughts landed on those red eyes and that laugh from their last meeting before he shook his head and stood up, and heading for the Scotland Road. As he made his way there, he thought of Izaya again.

‘Perhaps he’s not really a roach…’

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

Although there is no means of verifying it scientifically, the fact remains that numerous people seem to have had bad premonitions of one sort or another about the titanic and refused to sail on it…often at the last minute. Some of this can be attributed to popular superstition, many at the time believed it bad luck to sail on a liner’s maiden voyage, though this might be attributable to a natural desire that the owners get all of the bugs worked out in a new design before inflicting them on passengers. Others thought that calling this ship ‘unsinkable’ was somehow tempting fate. After the disaster, newspapers in both Europe and America were flooded with letters from people who claimed to have planned to board the Titanic, but then cancelled or changed their plans. Today, of course, it is impossible to determine how many of those claims were genuine. Still, it _has_ been documented that modern trains and aircraft involved in disasters statistically have fewer passengers aboard at the time than the average and that there are higher than normal numbers of last-minute cancelled reservations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so thrilled to be writing again :3 Thanks as always for reading! It does brighten my day ^^


	5. 10:25PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thiiiink the pacing is ok here. A little worried about it though.

It was supposed to be the case that second-class passengers couldn’t access the first-class cabins. But then again, it was also supposed to be the case that one could not time travel, so Izaya felt that the first fact was unimportant to adhere to. Besides, he was dressed the part and if anyone tried to stop him, he’d simply charm his way through, simple as that. He’d always gotten what he wanted with his words. Well, for the most part. There was one man in particular who never seemed to respond to Izaya’s words the way he’d expect.

‘I wonder how Shizu-chan is doing…’

He did hope for success on Shizuo’s end too, of course. Izaya felt like he’d figured out much of the mystery about the Rubaiyat, but he was missing something. With any luck, Shizuo would have figured out the missing bits.

Izaya had made his way through to the door to the A-deck cabins off the Grand Staircase. Here, the cabins were in groups of four off the main hallway. A-14 was the first door on the right of its group. Izaya knocked loudly on the door a couple of times.

A man answered promptly, clean shaven with oily hair, he was dressed in a grey suit and a designer’s cravat.

“Yes? What do you need?”

“I’m looking for a Mr. Barbicon,” Izaya said, not forgetting to smile.

“You’ve found him,” the man reached out to shake Izaya’s hand. “Sasha Barbicon of Barbicon Galleries. Now, what can I help you with?”

“Well, my good man, I am to receive a package…for Vlad.”

Sasha’s eyes widened in surprise. But something told Izaya that he wasn’t truly so. ‘I’m really going to have to watch for this one,’ he thought.

“For Vlad? He’s on board??” Sasha looked around. “Come in.”

They went inside of the cabin, which had yellow décor and oak furniture. Various paintings were scattered around the room, and there was what looked like a Russian doll sitting on the dresser.

Sasha was laughing. “He did it. I told him he didn’t have to, that I’d pay his ticket. But he’s too proud. Such a tragedy about his family. They were with my Mother’s people.”

Izaya decided to get as much info on this Vlad character as he could. Besides, another question might distract Sasha from realizing that Izaya was trying to get a closer look at the doll.

“What happened to his family?”

“When Austria took Bosnia, they were killed. Many were. With his family dead, America seems as good a place as any for Vlad.”

“I see…it’s a shame, that,” Izaya stated with a sigh. “Do you know what he will do in America?”

Sasha shrugged. “Ask Vlad, I don’t know.” He picked up a string-tied package wrapped with brown paper from behind him.

“Here, Vlad’s things. He’ll be glad to get them.”

Izaya took the package from him, and placed it inside of his satchel.

“It’s rather late…” Sasha trailed off. The blatant insinuation was not lost on Izaya, naturally.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t play the blissfully ignorant part.

The question might yet again pose a risk to him, but Izaya was used to playing with fire.

“Do you, by chance, know the Lady Georgia?”

Sasha seemed only slightly startled by the question. ‘He’s not bad, indeed.’

“Our history is…complex.”

“I see…so you are aware that she is on board.”

“Certainly. Georgia is a woman who does not go unnoticed…though, she does exude a certain romantic paranoia…a condition I fear is exacerbated by Charles’ own romance with whiskey.”

“Lord Lambeth drinks?”

“Continuously. One hears there are financial problems…they say Charles owes Andrew Conkling thousands of pounds,” he said, lowering his voice. “And as for Georgia, well…if you’ve spoken with her, you’ll know she’s in clear need of a rest. Not much anyone can do, I’m afraid.”

“A rest?”

“She’s accused me of outrageous deeds, libelous, practically. I’m part Slav, you see. A Serbian, on my Mother’s side. Georgia finds a mixture a source for wild stories, it seems.”

And there was a clincher. Not too obvious, but there it was all the same. Sasha had let out too much of the truth at the last moment. By pointing out what he felt was the ‘source’, for ‘wild stories’, that was a connector for Izaya.

So, something involving his Serbian side was playing party to something illegal.

That was definitely as much as Izaya would get, as he observed Sasha checking his watch. Though he’d also observed that the Russian doll looked to be some kind of…puzzle.

“Well then, I shall take up no more of your time, Mr. Barbicon. Lovely to make your acquaintance,” Izaya declared, already making his way toward the door. “Good night.”

“Good night. And don’t believe what Lady Georgia says,” he rushed to say, pointing a finger for emphasis. “She’s not well. Enjoy your voyage.”

The door shut behind Izaya. Was the man trying to be obvious? If Izaya weren’t, well, Izaya, the wild stories comment might’ve gone unnoticed. But anyone would have picked up the clearly poor attempt to cover up anything that Georgia might say with that shoddy last-minute ‘don’t believe her’ statement.

Izaya smiled to himself. ‘It’s just too easy to make people say what I want sometimes,’ he thought gleefully.

As he skipped down the deserted hallway, Izaya was smirking all the while.

Oh yes, he’d met one of the enemy and the man was, for now, none the wiser.

~  
*  
~  
Shizuo accessed Scotland Road from the second-class stairs, and was making his way through the hallway. It was only wide enough for two people to walk down it at once, and the atmosphere was a drab one, being that the only thing one could see was the metal plates bolted together making up the walls, and the pea soup green carpet on the floor. It seemed anything not meant for the eyes of the first-class passengers had little to no need for elegance.

As Shizuo turned a corner, who would be standing there but the Reverend Troutt who wasted no time in halting Shizuo’s progress and began quietly, as if he were about to reveal a secret. Which, apparently, he was.

“There you are. I have evidence of a scandal,” he whispered. “I have seen a first-class passenger – a Mr. Haderlitz among the steerage class…he’s been gambling with the crew, and worse. I followed him into third-class on F-deck where he visited the room of an unchaperoned young woman.”

Though it was interesting that Willie was randomly hanging about the third-class passengers and even the crew, Shizuo wasn’t one of the more conservative types, and didn’t see there being anything to do about it. Also, it was strange that Troutt was poking his nose into the matter.

“What will you do?”

“I shall speak to the authorities! This smacks of socialism and unrest,” he stated with much conviction. “I do look forward to speaking with you about the mission. God needs your help.”

“Yes, let’s talk about it later.”

“Thank you so much. I will call on you tomorrow. Good evening.”

And he was gone, back towards the second-class stairs. With Troutt having left, Shizuo could move on. He’d agree that it was strange, normally a mixing of the classes was indeed frowned upon, but why was Troutt so invested?

Shizuo continued, his path now unobstructed and turned another corner, opened a door, and proceeded down another long hallway, the scenery being all the same. Though interestingly, there was one thing on the wall here, an ax inside of a glass case, and a large coil of rope hanging right next to it. Perhaps it was from the christening of the ship?

That’s when he heard footsteps approach. Shizuo looked up to see a man in a nice black suit and designer beige tie standing nearby with a mustache and greying hair on top of his head.

“Hello, I’m Conkling,” the man informed with his strong American accent, reaching out for a handshake. “Good of you to come. I trust you’re finding the accommodations satisfactory?”

“They are, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. White Star is very anxious for everyone to be as comfortable as possible. Particularly on the maiden voyage.”

But Shizuo didn’t really have time for a chat.

“Why did you want to meet with me?”

“Sorry to seem mysterious. You must understand that someone in my position, an investor in this ship, needs discretion.”

“It’s the better part of valor, as they say,” Shizuo smiled, and received one back.

“You’re under no obligation, of course,” Conkling continued. “I’ve a slight problem, you may be able to help. A servant has stolen an important business document from me and I must recover it,” he explained. “A few years ago, my wife Beatrix hired a young Irish girl as maid in our London house. We treated her well. Two weeks ago, she up and left without notice, taking a certain letter with her. I had given up all hope of recovering it. Until my wife spotted her this morning on the third-class promenade. Needless to say, I’ve checked with the Purser. She’d been scheduled to sail on the Philadelphia. But those passengers were transferred aboard the Titanic due to a coal strike.”

It was understandable enough. “Why not apprehend her yourself?”

“Ah…I prefer to employ the services of a third party. You.”

“But why ask _me_ to do this?”

“Government officials – friends of mine – told me a Bureau agent was on board. I found you through Mrs. Cashmore. A preposterous woman. But she does have an eye for the accomplished.”

‘Dammit, Daisy,’ he couldn’t help but think.

“Look, will you help me? Your assistance will be rewarded handsomely.”

Shizuo considered it. “Perhaps – what’s her name?”

“Her name is Shailagh Hacker. She’s twenty, or thereabouts. I was her benefactor, one might say.”

Shizuo raised an eyebrow.

“Just her benefactor?”

Conkling cleared his throat a bit. “Uh-hum…yes…this puts me in a, um, difficult situation. This young woman – she could cause considerable damage to me – to my reputation – if she goes to the newspapers.”

So that’s how it was. “Just what’s in the letter, anyway?”

“Confidential business matters. Conkling Steel provides steel for ships. This ship, for example. If the contents of the letter were to be publicized, our competitors would profit greatly.”

Not exactly a good sign for the company with the owner of it saying such a thing.

“So, where’s this woman now?”

“I’d gotten word to her to meet on the poop deck. Go in my place. Tell her there’ll be no trouble if she returns the letter. Afterwards, report to me at our suite, B-59. Again, her name is Shailagh Hacker.”

Shizuo nodded. “Alright, I’ll go.”

“Good night, then.”

And Conkling walked off, leaving Shizuo alone to think about this new mess.

It was certainly not a priority of Shizuo’s, though it wouldn’t do to piss off Conkling by not doing the favor. Anyone who knew who Shizuo really was could be a problem. And Andrew Conkling couldn’t be handled any other way, unfortunately.

It was ridiculous, he thought. Were people _trying_ to get him killed?

He turned around and headed back to the second-class stairs and back up to B-deck, where he could access the poop deck and hopefully talk to Shailagh. With any luck, he wouldn’t frighten her away or anything.

And then came a little voice in his head. ‘But you know who isn’t afraid of you, now don’t you?’ it spoke, strangely enough, in Izaya’s voice.

Shizuo shook his head to clear the thought as he climbed up onto the poop deck, he had no time for such thoughts, he told himself.

He saw a woman standing at the other end of the deck, right at the end of the stern of the ship. Only thing was, there seemed to be someone else with her. She stood there wrapped in a white shawl, one hand over her heart as if to keep the shawl in place. It covered her curly brown hair well, and her wide brown eyes stared at him for a moment.

The man next to her, in a black cap and a black coat, spoke right away.

“What did I tell ya, Shay? I knew he’d not come in person.”

“Hush, Jack, hush,” spoke the woman, before she turned her attention to Shizuo. “Conkling – he did send ya, didn’t he?”

“Conkling told me to meet with the lady,” Shizuo explained.

“I told you, it’s a trick! I knew Conkling wouldn’t come – he’s sent one of his cronies instead.”

Though offended to be called a crony, Shizuo knew calling the man out on it wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“Are you Miss Hacker’s friend?”

“I’m her brother. And Conkling – because of him, Shailagh’s had to leave everything and everyone she knows.”

“Jack, don’t,” came Shailagh’s interjection.

“That sunuva bitch. She was his maid and all the time violatin’ her.”

Wait, what?

“Hush, Jack. I’ll have no more of that…go ahead, tell him the rest.”

“You tell Conkling we have his letter, and he’ll not be seeing it until he coughs up a petty sum, too.”

If what Jack said was true, it was the least that could be done. He’d been under the impression that any…interactions had been consensual.

“How much for the letter?”

“Five thousand, do ya hear? Dollars. Enough to get her started right, in America. And if he raises a hand against us, I’ll make sure the newspapers get a hold of the letter and print it. So, tell Conkling,” Jack pointed at Shizuo. “Five thousand. Measured against what he has it’s a bloody bargain.”

“Alright, I’ll tell him,” Shizuo responded.

“Meet us here again, at one, tonight,” Shailagh spoke softly.

“Five thousand, then he’ll get his damn letter, agreed?” Jack insisted.

“I’ll have to ask Conkling.”

“It’s you’re only chance, we’ll be waitin’ for ya.”

They turned back, and looked out off of the deck to the ocean, leaving Shizuo to retreat, and head back to the stairs on his own.

He knew there would be no meeting at one, obviously. Or at the very least, nothing preordained. The ship had, in his past, struck the iceberg at about 11:40PM, after all.

He hoped that there would be some kind of decent resolution for Shailagh amidst the upcoming chaos.

In the meantime, he’d try to catch Charles alone. Smoking room, huh? That was accessible only by the Aft Grand Staircase. It’d be a bit of a trek from where he currently was. Even so, he made his way there.

It took a little bit of time, but he made it across the ship, hurrying along wherever there wasn’t anybody present. The smoking rooms décor had stained glass windows inside, surrounding the bar and the fireplace present. There were multiple tables, some other tables where groups of men were playing cards, plenty of men and even a few women smoking. As expected, it was quite smoky in the room. Once again, Shizuo wished he had some Old Reds to smoke, or any kind, really. There was a lone man sitting at the bar, however, that he needed to speak to.

Shizuo took a seat next to him, and ordered a drink. Once it was brought to him, Charles decided to speak.

“Ah, hello,” the slight slur indicated that Charles was most assuredly not sober.

“How are you doing, Charles?”

“You…may have heard I am in financial straits…I’ve borrowed money from Andrew Conkling, money that he is now demanding that I pay back…I have none to give,” he explained. “Poverty should remain the domain of the virtuous…I’ve no taste for it.”

He’d get back to that in a minute. He needed more information on Georgia. “Why was Georgia afraid of you tonight?”

“Georgia? Afraid of me?” he chuckled. “Well, that would be a reaction, at least. We no longer evoke emotion in each other; we’re husband and wife in name only.”

Damn. That didn’t get him anywhere.

“Were you trying to tell me that you need money?”

Charles laughed. “Trying to tell you?” he continued to chuckle. “No, I shall fix things first. And without Georgia. Another drink?” Charles asked. He called to the bartender. “Another whiskey for…um…” Charles couldn’t seem to remember his name.

“Go ahead and charge it to C-73, thanks,” Shizuo said to the bartender. Like it would matter.

“Hope you don’t mind if I do as well,” Charles slurred. That had been the point, Shizuo assumed.

After a moment, the drinks were made, and Charles thanked the bartender.

“Now…you, uh, want to know some secrets,” Charles started.

Indeed, he certainly did…drunk Charles was certainly generous.

“I’ll tell you one,” Charles muttered, voice low. “Georgia’s diamond necklace…it’s a fake. The one around her neck, leastways,” he continued. “I gave the real necklace to Sasha. It’s in his cabin for safekeeping. When he gets to New York, he’ll sell it – quickly and quietly – for twenty percent commission. I’ll pay off my debts to Conkling, put Georgia away, sail back to England free and clear.”

Shizuo reigned in his temper. It was lucky he’d spent so much time doing in practicing doing so. There was no way he’d have otherwise been able to be a field agent. Even so, he shifted a bit, and couldn’t help but mumble a little.

“Put Georgia away?”

“Yes, she’s unstable, as you know. So, I’m placing her in a sanatorium. Easy thing to do given her emotional history. The law favors the husband in these matters; she can do nothing about it,” Charles sighed. “God forbid the suffragettes really do win women the vote. They’ll never know their place again.”

Shizuo had to make sure of one more thing.

“Why wouldn’t Sasha sell it for Georgia?”

“Because, I threatened to tell Scotland Yard about his ‘Serbian aid society’, and because Sasha’s a greedy bastard. He’s betrayed his love for twenty percent,” Charles chuckled. “And Georgia thinks she’s outsmarted me…no, she’s got a fake about her neck and doesn’t know.”

Charles picked up his now empty glass. “Another?”

“Not for me, Charles, thanks.”

“Good night then, you’ll sleep well. The sea and the whiskey are both smooth for a change.”

Shizuo left the smoking room shaking. If Sasha was involved in this…

He had to tell Izaya.

Only thing was, he was having more and more trouble with the idea of facing him.

~  
*  
~

Izaya was making his way back down to the boiler rooms. It took a while just to get from his cabin to Sasha’s and back again. It was luck, really, that the entrance to the turbine room happened to be so near his own cabin.

Now the only tricky part about getting back to where he had been before was getting past that crewmember again. All he had to do was sneak through. Only problem was that the area was not exactly wide. If the man happened to be facing Izaya’s way when he opened the door…

But lo and behold, he was looking at the controls again. Was the system getting rough again already?

Izaya quietly made his way past the crew member and into the engine room. Not that he’d really needed to be quiet, it was incredibly loud in most of these rooms as it was. But still, he needed to keep up his finesse anyway.

Passing various stairs and ladders, he’d finally reached the boiler rooms, and Vlad, who was standing there, up on the catwalk. Looking antsy.

Izaya pulled the package out from his satchel right away, and handed it over.

“Here is your package,” Izaya smiled.

“Thank you,” Vlad took the package, holding it close. “I must see Mr. Barbicon. I have bad news,” he continued, looking down over the side of the catwalk before looking back at Izaya. “He will not be happy. I am looking for something, something very important. But it’s not here…” he trailed off. “You have seen a small…”

Vlad went silent, and Izaya put on his best concerned look that screamed ‘I want to help’ as he tilted his head slightly.

“…It is of no importance. Good night.”

And Vlad left, clutching the package and almost running through the door.

Izaya did some racing of his own, proceeding down the ladder, and nearly running to coal chute five. He opened the control panel and there it was, just as he’d left it – the Rubaiyat. He tucked it away in his satchel, and danced a little dance to himself. It had worked out just as he’d planned, and not a moment too soon. Somehow, Vlad hadn’t thought to check the other coal chutes, and now, they were all set.

Well, with any luck, they were. He had his suspicions that perhaps they weren’t quite done yet.

Making his way back, it was again, lucky that it was easy to sneak back behind the control room’s crewman and make his way back to his cabin. There was no Shizu-chan there, however, so he’d need to go hunting for him.

Well, perhaps it could be a fun chase.

Still, he knew time was of the essence, so it was perhaps serendipitous that he found his Beast there in the Aft Grand Staircase on B-deck. Izaya had apparently startled him, however. Shizuo seemed to have lost his composure, strangely.

“I-Izaya?”

Strangely, it was almost as though Shizu-chan was seeing him for the first time. The man was flushed a bit, though…he didn’t seem drunk.

Still, Izaya couldn’t help but smile. “ああ、しずちゃん～” (“Ah, Shizu-chan~”)

Shizuo swallowed harshly. This did not escape Izaya’s notice. What did escape him, however, was the reason for Shizu-chan’s change in behavior. It was rather odd, he thought. He’d have to put it after the mission, however.

“さあ、俺の部屋へ戻らないじゃん？いろいろな大したことを話すのがあるんですね～” (“Well, shall we return to my room? We do have various important things to discuss, don’t we?~”).

“あ – ああ。あるぞ。例えば、ル –  ルバイヤートがあるかどうか？”  (“Y-yeah. We do. For example, d-did you get the Rubaiyat?”).

And there is was again, the stuttering. How odd. Did he suddenly pick up a speech tic?

With a laugh, Izaya responded. “俺を誰だと思ってるのさ？” (“Who do you think I am?”).

They had begun walking as they spoke, Izaya leading the way. Moving through the B-deck cabins, they saw someone that Shizuo recognized, barely figuring out how to get into his own cabin.

The man looked up to see who was passing. “You’ll……have a good evening, then,” Charles said, all too slowly as he finally made his way inside of his and Georgia’s cabin.

Not that the man would remember later, but Shizuo decided to respond anyway, apparently. Why he bothered, Izaya didn’t know until he spoke.

“Yes, of course, Charles. Good night to you.”

Ah, so that was Charles. What was more interesting to Izaya, however, was that just then, Shizuo didn’t stumble over his words at all.

~  
*  
~

So, Charles was just now getting back to the cabin then. Just as well, Shizuo thought.

By Izaya’s last response, it was clear he’d gotten the Rubaiyat. It seemed they’d had good timing in meeting up again, though Shizuo came to realize his face was flushed and he couldn’t talk to Izaya without stuttering.

He wasn’t so naïve as to not figure out what this meant for him. Though not the easiest thing to come to terms with, Shizuo was more concerned about Izaya finding out about it. Perhaps he could explain it away – he’d gotten drunk with Charles, or something of the like. But no, not only was that not true, but he couldn’t exactly admit to being drunk on the job, false or otherwise.

He’d have to figure out something. This couldn’t possibly have gone unnoticed by Izaya. More than that, he needed to get his head on straight. The mission needed to come first. With the successful completion of the mission, perhaps there could follow even more personal changes than he thought…

Well. He could think about it later, especially once they were off the Titanic…hopefully, together.

They were silent until they finally made it to Izaya’s cabin. Once the door shut, Izaya turned around, and quickly.

“Why is it, Shizu-chan, that you seem to be having a stuttering problem…around me?”

Of course, he had asked immediately.

“W-well, I…um,” Shizuo took a breath, and worked to clear his mind. He had to be calm about this. He ran a hand through his hair, and closed his eyes before opening them again. He could do this. He wasn’t once scouted for an acting job for no reason.

“We agents do have our secrets…Izaya-kun,” Shizuo smirked.

That caught him off guard, Izaya’s mouth slightly open and his red eyes wide and staring. Though it did lead him to a laugh as well. “You’re not wrong, Shizu-chan.”

Izaya was still smiling when he spoke again.

“Well, down to business. Yes, I do indeed have the Rubaiyat. Though I met a stowaway named Vlad, it seems he works for Sasha, and he was most definitely looking for it as well. Suffice to say, I had to re-hide the thing and then return later to get it.”

“I see,” Shizuo considered the words. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

There it was, again, that surprised face that Shizuo had come to look forward to seeing.

“Ah, well, thank you,” came the response, not without a tint of red on those cheeks.

“Anyway…I’m concerned about this painting that’s supposed to be traded, like we spoke of before. It seems Sasha, or Vlad, or perhaps both of them intended to use the Rubaiyat for purposes of assisting suspicious groups such as the Black Hand…Sasha, you see, has connections to such groups.”

Shizuo’s eyes lit up. “That makes sense. From what I gathered from Georgia, Sasha’s so-called Balkan Aid Society stole ‘something’ with the intentions of selling it to obtain a lot of money for some kind of funding.”

“It’s come together, then,” Izaya grinned. “However…it seems Sasha was supposed to trade a painting to Zeitel…according to the notes we’ve got, I’ve found that Zeitel’s contact on the Titanic is Sasha…so anything to do with one is likely to do with the other…we need to follow the movement of this painting now.”

“One other thing,” Shizuo broke in. “I found out that the necklace Georgia gave me is a fake. It turns out that the real one is with Sasha.”

“Sasha again,” Izaya’s eyes narrowed in thought. He began to pace, thinking quietly to himself.

“Alright, here’s how we’ll proceed,” he stated. Shizuo nodded, indicating he was listening. “I’d like you to head to Sasha’s cabin, A-14. If he’s there, try to figure out a way to get him to leave, and see if you can’t get inside to get the real necklace. It might be secured away, so you’ll probably need a little time to get it. I actually had to stop by his cabin, as a favor for Vlad…I think it’s inside of a puzzle on a doll.”

Shizuo was a little confused by ‘puzzle on a doll’, be he figured it would be obvious when he saw it.

“Once you have, I want you to check the necklace, along with the Rubaiyat in to the Purser for safe-keeping. Here,” he pulled out the Rubaiyat, and handed it to Shizuo. “After that, try to poke around a bit…see if you can’t confirm that there are paintings in the cargo hold…this painting just might be kept there. The manifest should be with the Purser, but…he won’t just let you look at it.”

“That’s fine,” Shizuo responded. “I’ll figure it out.”

Izaya accepted that. “As for me, I’m going to see what I can find out further about the painting if possible. Should you find a lead in reaching the painting, as I’ve said before, go ahead and pursue it. And be careful; never underestimate the enemy.”

“Of course,” Shizuo replied. That was a basic rule to live by in the Bureau. But Izaya seemed to be in mission mode, so it didn’t bother him that Izaya was sounding a little patronizing. Besides, he was supposed to be his superior here anyway. Moreover, it was, dare he say, kind of cute.

“Good work, by the way, Shizu-chan,” Izaya stated, smiling.

Shizuo just smiled back, feeling like a loon.

Having separated from Izaya, Shizuo made his way back to A-deck, still smiling widely. Perhaps he’d fallen somewhere and was having a fever dream, but he didn’t care…he could feel it.

This was what he had been missing all this time.

 

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

One of the first radio standard distress signals was developed in 1903, and was CQD. CQ was the standard signal to stop transmitting in order to allow an emergency message through. D was for distress. CQD was the first distress call that Titanic sent out. But the morse code for CQD was cumbersome. In 1906, the far simpler SOS was devised. However, it was still not used very much. But after an officer used it during the Titanic’s sinking, it became widely accepted. Even with morse code having largely fallen out of use, SOS is still well known. Incidentally, it was never intended to mean “Save Our Ship” as many claimed. The letters were chosen solely for their clarity and ease of recognition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my thanks for your reading!! I appreciate it so much, you don't even know~


	6. 10:45PM

Shizuo approached Sasha’s room. However, not only was Sasha potentially in his room, but now there was somebody in the small hallway to worry about too.

The little hallway came off of the main hallway, and granted access to cabins A-14, 16, 18, and 20. But at the end of this one was a crew member, dressed in White Star sweatshirt attire. He seemed to be fiddling with something on the wall. It was a small white panel with what seemed to be small switches inside of it, having to do with the electrical system.

As Shizuo stopped, having been caught off guard at the man standing there, he debated on how to handle the situation. Luckily, he didn’t need to worry. The man had turned around from the panel and wasn’t startled by Shizuo’s presence. He didn’t need any encouragement to begin talking and from what he said, he must’ve assumed Shizuo had been looking for a crew member.

“’ello, just seein’ to the electric. The fuse box there,” he gestured at the panel. “A-deck’s been complaining about the lights all night. We’ll get her straightened right out. That is, if I can find me screwdriver. Wager I forgot it below. Ta now, be right back.”

Shizuo didn’t even get the chance to speak before the crewman was gone, off to a lower deck, apparently.

But this gave Shizuo an idea. In fact, it would be perfect so long as Sasha didn’t notice him.

He went over to the panel to find the cover of it open. Inside, there were four switches, each with a room number labeled underneath. Next to the switches were red lights, all of them were on. Though not an electrician, Shizuo could figure out how to work this well enough.

The top switch was labeled as A-14, and Shizuo switched it off.

Now, he had to move. If Sasha came out and saw him…

But it was too late. Sasha came out almost immediately following the blackout in his room. He did not, however, notice Shizuo. Instead, he had drawn his attention immediately to the main hallway and left the area. Most likely, he was going to go find someone about the lights.

‘Should give me enough time,’ Shizuo grinned to himself.

He went back to the electric panel, and turned the switch back to on. He’d need to be able to see, of course. He closed the panel and in he went to Sasha’s room. It was lucky the man hadn’t locked it. He had looked like he was rushing off, in any case.

Quite quickly, he knew what Izaya meant when he said Shizuo would need a little time. There was a hand-painted Russian nesting doll sitting on the dresser across from the door. On the front of it, a series of red circles with numbers around the edges…this must be a puzzle. It had to be a doll meant for safekeeping small items.

Shizuo picked it up and shook it. There was a jangling sound…one he’d associate with jewelry. This must be it, he’d have to solve the puzzle before he could get to the necklace…the doll was indeed not opening. The most outer ring didn’t move, and the smaller ones would. It seemed that the numbers all needed to add up to equal each number on the outer ring.

It would take a few minutes, but eventually, all of the numbers were lined up accordingly, and Shizuo was able to begin lifting the top parts of the dolls up and off, one by one. Finally, the last one opened up to reveal a necklace sitting inside.

“Yes,” Shizuo whispered to himself. He couldn’t help the smile accompanying it; he’d done it!

He took the necklace, careful to place it into a different pocket in his satchel from the fake one and paused. Earlier, he had shaken the doll to confirm the necklace was there…no doubt Sasha or someone else would as well. Again, being careful to select the fake necklace from his bag, he placed the fake necklace into the doll and put the doll back together, turning the numbers around as well into some random order.

He’d only just placed the doll back onto the dresser and turned back around to leave when the door opened.

Sasha.

“What’re you doing in my cabin? You must leave immediately!” he nearly shouted, pointing behind himself to the door.

Shizuo was happy enough with saying nothing, and quietly leaving with the door shutting behind him. It did quickly open up again, however, Sasha speaking once more.

“You need to tend to your own affairs,” he stated, glancing back inside his room. “Fortunately, you’ve left my valuables undisturbed.”

And back he went into his room, almost slamming the door.

But it didn’t matter because this particular mission was accomplished. Now off to the Purser.

Not only could the necklace eventually be given back to Georgia and she could start her own new life, but that meant Charles was foiled as well…not that he was likely to make it off the ship later anyway, but it was good that Georgia would have money. In addition to that, Vlad and Sasha wouldn’t get their hands on it either. They’d not have the necklace or the Rubaiyat to fund the Black Hand for assassination purposes. He knew Izaya wouldn’t know just exactly how integral getting these items was, but he would be happy about this nonetheless.

Now if only they knew more about the importance of the painting. For whatever reason, Zeitel was obviously tasked by his command to get it from Sasha. And if they didn’t get the painting then at the very least, Shizuo and Izaya would need the information about it. Could it, perhaps, be involved with the ‘plans’ that Officer Morrow had mentioned?

He made it to the Purser who’d gladly checked the necklace and Rubaiyat for Shizuo, placing them in the safe. Though in the meantime, Shizuo noticed him mumbling ‘Thayer’ under his breath the whole time.

‘If he’s distracted, then I might be able to…’

“Pardon me, but I was wondering if I might be able to have a look at the cargo list?”

The book listing all of the cargo was in front of the little wooden sliding door, but if the Purser were there behind the door, he’d be certain to notice someone coming in and flipping through something. So even if he closed his door, he’d still notice someone going through the list on the other side.

“Away – go away, I’m much too busy. I must get this message delivered to the wireless room for Mr. Thayer. Mr. Thayer is the Vice President of the Pennsylvania railroad and expects his private train car to meet him in New York, but I can’t leave my post.”

Shizuo wondered why the man had taken the message in the first place if he couldn’t go deliver it. Still, this could be his ticket to the cargo manifest.

“Could I help?”

“Help?” the Purser considered it. “Yes, it might be helpful if you delivered this message to the wireless room…better yet, why don’t you send it for me? Mr. Thayer is a very important man. So, send the telegram at once. And when you have, don’t forget to tell me.”

Shizuo took the message from him and left.

Oh, he’d deliver the message, sure. He wasn’t about to be bothered sending it, however. In his own future, Thayer had died, never reaching New York. Though the wife and son had survived, they’d not arrived in New York on the 17th which this telegram was requesting for. He knew that being one of the survivors.

Shizuo took his time getting up to the boat deck, wondering just what it was that Izaya was up to. He’d said he was trying to get more information. Probably, he was among the people who might still be out of their rooms despite how late it was getting, hoping to pick up something useful. Well, being Izaya, he very well might too.

On the boat deck now, Shizuo walked towards the wireless room. Officer Morrow was still there, but he was facing a different direction. So, Shizuo nearly ran inside, quickly setting the telegram down on the desk where the Marconi was, and then left quickly, avoiding the gaze of the officer.

He strode down the boat deck back towards the Grand Staircase. He recalled that during the sinking in his history, a band had played in the first class lounge not far away throughout the whole affair as if to entertain and perhaps comfort those who knew they wouldn’t be leaving the ship. He could recall it echoing across the sea to the lifeboats at that time. It had been almost haunting the way one moment the echoing of music spread through the freezing air and the next, it was silent as the grave.

Though he couldn’t see a way to prevent the ship’s ultimate fate, he could still save an innumerable amount of lives in the future through his actions this night. Perhaps he’d even try to confess to Izaya of his former life, the history he’d already lived through…if the man didn’t think him mad for it.

Thinking of Izaya, Shizuo was simply glad the man hadn’t figured him out. Izaya had caught his stuttering, but either he had miraculously not caught on to Shizuo’s attraction, or he was being kind enough or professional enough to not mention it. Regardless, it was quite the situation Shizuo found himself in. During the middle of the most important mission possible, he had managed to fall for the last person he could have guessed. The roach, of all people. The one who called him Shizu-chan. The intelligent, cute, authoritative, clever, annoying roach. The one who had fought for him to keep his job in his history, the one who had oh-so easily declared his lack of fear of Shizuo.

The one who’d taken over his heart.

Shizuo rubbed his face, realizing he’d reached the Purser’s office. He waited another moment before he was sure the red had faded from his cheeks and that he didn’t have some kind of ridiculous smile on his face that could be questioned. He let out a shaky breath, hoping he didn’t look as though his heart was racing painfully inside of his chest. He really couldn’t afford to let this…situation of his distract him. There was so much at stake.

Entering and knocking on the wood panel, Shizuo waited as the Purser slid open the door.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“I’ve sent the telegram,” Shizuo responded. Why was the man even asking?

“You sent it? Marvelous.”

Shizuo considered his next move. He needed to appease the man enough so that he’d let Shizuo see the cargo list.

“Shall I tell the Thayers?”

“And let them think the Purser’s not doing his job?” he seemed a little affronted. “I am the Purser. And as Purser, I am the one who looks after the passengers. Mr. Thayer is Vice President of the Pennsylvania railroad, and it is I who shall inform the Thayers that their train will be waiting.”

And now he was repeating information. Fantastic, Shizuo thought.

“So, if you’ll excuse me…”

And the door slid down, and off the Purser went. Shizuo could hear the footsteps from the other side leaving. It hadn’t occurred how he’d planned it, but now was his chance to see the list. It was still sitting on Shizuo’s side of the door, and now that there was no one around to notice, he could go through the list at his leisure.

However, what he was looking for was exactly on the second page – luckily, he hadn’t had to look for long. Lemke & Buechner Shipping, 1 case artwork, painting and frame. And right next to it, someone had hand-signed Barbicon Galleries. Perfect.

Closing the book, Shizuo dashed out of the office and made his way quickly up the stairs to A-deck. Via the promenade, he could take a ladder down on the forecastle deck, where there was a steel door leading to the cargo hold. He descended down a set if circle stairs, leading to one more door…where there was a crewmember standing in the way.

“Sorry, no one allowed in the cargo hold, them’s the rules.”

And that was how Shizuo found himself turning back around, and loitering around the Grand Staircase wondering how to proceed. He needed some way of being able to get down there.

But…in the meantime, he was on B-deck, and he did need to go see Conkling. He’d meet with the man and think about the cargo hold in the meantime.

~  
*  
~

Izaya had been relentlessly searching through all of his information, hoping to gain more understanding of why the German high command had apparently taken interest in this painting that Zeitel was trying to get his hands on.

And finally, finally, he found it. Information from the Crown. Information that told him that these were the missing plans that Officer Morrow had spoken of according to Shizuo. The plans were contained with the painting and showed Britain’s planned troop deployment in regard to German movement. Were Germany to get ahold of these plans…it could lead to disaster.

But he needed to help in finding out where the painting was for certain.

Which was how he found himself wandering into the Smoking Room, where he spotted Max.

“C’mere, let me introduce you to Buick Riviera,” he gestured at a man sitting down at a nearby table. “Remember, he’s French, and you know what they’re like.”

He wasn’t entirely sure as to just what Max was alluding to, but so be it. The more people he met, the more possibility there was of being the lucky recipient of some lovely information. Information that could lead them to the painting.

Hopefully, Shizu-chan was having much better luck.

“Welcome to zee tables, mon ami,” the man, Buick Riviera, greeted. His slicked-back hair and dark red suit did stand out among the smoking room crowd. “We make a meeting before?”

“I don’t believe so, my good sir,” Izaya responded, being sure to appear as friendly as possible.

“A shame.”

Izaya sat down at the table.

“You would like to play a game?”

The game was blackjack. The goal of the game was to obtain a total of 21 points without going over. Or, getting as close as one can to it without going over 21. If you exceed 21 points, it’s a bust. The dealer also participates. One can also win by the dealer getting a bust as opposed to the player. Players and the deal start off with two cards and can hit, receiving another card, or stay, stopping with the total they have.

The man was good, quite good. Izaya played a few hands with him which were over fairly quickly. Though he lost a few times, he also won a few times. They didn’t gamble, just played for fun in this instance. Izaya was listening to his surroundings as well while playing, Riviera spoke of nothing except for the game. Izaya was hoping to catch something interesting from the nearby tables, but nothing of use came around. Until, in between hands – who should stroll by but Zeitel and Sasha. They were hurrying along, while trying not to be obvious, so it seemed. They couldn’t escape Izaya’s careful notice, however.

He excused himself from Riviera and carefully made his way toward the same direction that the men were headed in, which was out of the Smoking Room.

They were making their way to the Boat Deck.

~  
*  
~

“Come in,” Conkling’s voice called from inside the room when Shizuo knocked on the door.

Walking into the room, Shizuo was greeted by the man himself.

“I’d hoped to meet you earlier, however, my wife and I were calling on the Astors,” he explained. “Madeline is pregnant. Beatrix was thrilled; we have no children.”

Shizuo decided to get down to business quickly.

“I see, that’s lovely,” he started. “Well…when I met with Miss Hacker, her brother was there as well. He wants $5,000 for the letter.”

Conkling frowned. “I see, so it’s a ransom.”

The door opened, and in stepped a woman draped in dark green with a coat and sporting a wrap around a large hat, which had large feathers from a bird of some sort sticking out several ways. It appeared to be attached quite well to her head, and she had a cigarette in one hand.

“May I present Mrs. Conkling.”

The woman took a drag from her cigarette.

“You should pitch the ungrateful girl overboard,” she spoke, harshly.

“Charmed…” Shizuo trailed off. What else was there to say. But yes, so this was Beatrix, the clothing designer Daisy had mentioned earlier.

“Your clothes…French cut, I see. Quite fetching.”

Conkling spoke again. “Beatrix is on her way to California. She’s got a new project in…where was it, dear?”

Beatrix took another drag of her cigarette. “A cow town…some place called Los Angeles. I’m doing up a little resort there, it’s called The Beverly Hills Hotel,” she switched topics. “So, where is the Irish tart? Dreaming of her newfound riches?”

“We were just discussing that, darling.”

“My husband and myself extended every courtesy, showed every kindness to Shailagh. We’ve no children; Shailagh became quite dear to us. So her theft hurt us all the more for the trust we placed in her,” she said that, but Shizuo was not convinced. “Don’t fail us.”

She turned away, starting to head into an adjoining suite. “Now, excuse me, I must retire…I’ve a frightful headache.”

‘Perhaps if she took off that hat,’ Shizuo couldn’t help but think.

“Good night to you.”

“It was…a pleasure,” she stated, as though she were unsure. “Good night.” She left through the door.

Conkling wasn’t done.

“My wife felt strongly about Shailagh. As I told you, we’ve no children of our own. Look, you must get that letter, don’t wait until tomorrow. See if you can speak to Shailagh directly, without her brother. I checked with the Purser- she’s in third-class, cabin F-59.”

From there, Shizuo was being ushered out of the room.

“Good night. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”

It was fine with him though – he’d remembered something, something that would help with finding the painting.

Something else that Daisy had said: “They’re bringing back a motorcar, do you believe – in the cargo hold! Bill Carter checks it daily. Really, every day. He keeps the keys with the Purser, and of course they let them; the Carters are fantastically rich.”

If he could get those keys, he’d have the perfect way in to the cargo hold!

He hurried back to the Purser’s office on C-deck.

It was a very short trip, and Shizuo hoped that maybe somehow – just somehow, the Purser wouldn’t be there and he might be able to just get those car keys –

But it wasn’t to be, the man slid open the small wood door when Shizuo knocked.

He seemed exasperated.

“Oh, no, no, I’m far too busy – Mr. Isidor Straus…has lost a cufflink. And he’s so particular.”

Shizuo could see what were most definitely car keys hanging among others on the wall just next to the Purser…but first things first.

“Could I look for it?”

“Thank you. It is a gold cufflink. Mr. Straus would be very grateful.”

And with that, the door was shut again.

But Shizuo took no offence to that – he was too busy thinking. Someone had mentioned about the Strauses…

‘That’s it!’

“…The Strauses – I saw them on D-deck tonight…”

“Thank you, Daisy!” he said quietly as he could.

D-deck wasn’t just the 1st-class reception, but it would be a fine place to start looking.

And what luck he had – there was a gold cufflink sitting on a chair that was just across from the stairs in the reception. All he would have to do is go back up those stairs to the Purser.

~  
*  
~

Zeitel and Sasha exited out onto the boat deck and turned, walking toward the end of the boat where one could access the second-class stairs.

It looked like they were stopping. Izaya turned back immediately and began thinking. He could not be seen by them. But, the location they were obviously choosing to speak at…there was a way he could overhear them, no doubt.

Izaya made his way to the other end of the ship, where officers were standing guard. He was allowed to go down the steps there, however. It went to the A-deck promenade. The promenade was directly under the boat deck, so, all he had to do was go down those stairs, and head directly back to where Zeitel and Sasha should be standing about now. He hurried that way, but then slowed and was careful to keep his footsteps silent as he approached the area underneath where he was certain they were standing.

“We have a problem, Zeitel.”

Perfect – that was Sasha’s voice. Izaya smirked, he couldn’t have planned it better.

“Which is?”

“The Rubaiyat – it was not at your drop point.”

“You are sure?”

“Most definitely.”

“But I put it there myself. What happened?”

Zeitel was sounding collected while it seemed Sasha was nearing a state of panic.

“There’s a third party on board. An agent working against you. Against us.”

“How do you know?”

“My servant saw him at the drop. He now has the Rubaiyat. This could ruin me, Zeitel, if I were found out!”

“We shall take precautions.”

It bothered Izaya that not only was he found out (but what did he expect, really, having been seen by Vlad and Sasha both), but it bothered him how calm Zeitel sounded.

Sasha spoke again.

“What about the painting – did your associate bring it up from the cargo hold?”

“No, I don’t have it.”

“No? But I put it there myself!”

“Sasha – I have discovered a traitor – don’t look so startled; it is not you.”

“You mean Haderlitz – your associate?”

“No longer my associate, I am afraid. Willie is an intellectual. And intellectuals are not smart enough for espionage. Now, I must recover the painting and its plans. I fear this third party may already have possession of it.”

The plans! So that was it – the painting somehow included Britain’s plans – they had to keep it away from Germany.

“And Haderlitz?”

“Thank you for asking. Willie will bring no further harm to the Fatherland, I can assure you. Let us plan.”

Then, it sounded as though the two of them parted ways and walked in opposite directions.

So…Willie was a supposed traitor. They knew about Izaya, or at least enough about him that he’d best keep out of their line of view from here on out. The information he had about the painting was correct, and…the painting just might still be safe for a little longer. And he’d been right – it was in the cargo hold.

Izaya stood there for a moment before determining it was safe to go back inside, where he found himself near the Smoking Room again.

The biggest thing was…Willie was working against Zeitel.

‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ he thought, smirking.

That may just yet prove true for them.

But now, he had to look for his Shizu-chan.

Izaya smiled, a gentle look crossing his face and soft eyes unseeing his surroundings.

Yes, ‘his Shizu-chan’ sounded perfectly fitting in his mind.

Descending the Aft Grand Staircase in his search, Izaya continued thinking to himself.

‘If only he’d agree.’

~  
*  
~

“I found Mr. Straus’ cufflink.”

Shizuo handed over the cufflink to the Purser.

“Wonderful. Mr. Straus will be quite pleased that I found his cufflink. I shall deliver it at once,” the Purser barely took a break between sentences. “I’m just sure his gratitude will be reflected most generously.”

Pushing aside the fact that the Purser just took full credit for what Shizuo had done, Shizuo didn’t mind the Purser doing so and then leaving his post in hopes of getting some kind of hefty monetary tip. Straus was a co-owner of Macy’s Department Store after all, so the Purser was probably right in assuming he’d get a nice tip.

But what Shizuo really didn’t mind about it was that the Purser had left the wooden door open. Which meant that all Shizuo had to do was lean over just a bit…

…and snatch the car keys off of the key rack.

He closed the wooden panel so that the Purser wouldn’t realize or recall that he’d left it open, and he left the room, heading back again to the forecastle deck.

The trip was easy enough and not too far. The same crewmember was there, but this time, his reaction was different.

“Like I said, nobody’s allowed to-“ Shizuo held up the keys, smiling as innocently as possible. “You’ve got the keys…you’re a Carter! ‘Course you can enter!” He was all friendliness now. “Come to visit your new automobile, have you? Can’t say I blame you – she’s a beauty! Gleaming like a new penny!”

They moved to enter the room. “Right this way, mind your head, it’s dark in there.”

They entered the large room, which was lit with some overhead lights, but the ceiling was so high up that it was indeed rather dark in the room. On either side were fenced-in areas looking like cages, each having a door opening in to each section.

“You’ll find your way from here.”

So, he’d be left alone a bit, but not fully. Though he really had no idea where the box he needed would be, Shizuo figured he’d start where the car was, since the crewmember was still in the room too, and would expect him to go to the car anyway. If it wasn’t there, he’d just wait until the guy was distracted or left the area and then check other sections.

Going down the hallway, he was careful to look for the section where he could hopefully see a car, and luckily, he spotted it after not too long a time. Entering the area through the door, the car was the thing that stood out the most. There were definitely boxes and crates as well, but again, it was dark in there and it was to the point that he couldn’t read anything.

But that could be easily solved. Back this many years, headlights were still turned on manually right next to them on the exterior. So, Shizuo did just that – he turned on the headlamps which did give enough light for him to read the crates.

And there – just across the way – it was the crate he needed! Shizuo just stood there for a moment, taking in the situation, unable to believe that it was right there – the thing they really needed.

Shizuo opened up the crate – not a hard task for him – and looked inside.

Indeed, there was a frame like the list had said. But the painting to go with it…had clearly been torn out of it.

“Shit,” he cursed, softly. He had been too late. Someone had been faster than him. Was it Zeitel? Shizuo feared the worst…if so, they may have completely lost the chance to obtain it.

But no, he couldn’t give up – nothing was over yet. It was going to be awful, explaining what had happened to Izaya. Shizuo surprised himself by realizing that he was a bit distressed at disappointing the man. It was especially surprising because Shizuo knew what not obtaining the painting could mean in the long run for their country and the world, yet, he’d thought of Izaya first.

Shizuo cursed again, thinking of Izaya.

He was in deep.

Too deep, perhaps…like all the air had disappeared around him.

It sure did feel as though he were drowning, leastways.

Yet…Shizuo found that he didn’t want to come up for air.

Wearing a self-deprecating smile, he walked past the inattentive crew member, and found himself sitting on a bench on the forecastle deck.

He wouldn’t drown on the Titanic, he knew. He’d repeat that part of history.

But now he found himself drowning in something else entirely.

Shizuo got up, and leaned against the railing, looking out at the sea. He really should get to Izaya but…he just couldn’t. Firstly, he didn’t want to face him and admit that he’d missed getting the painting and that it might just be in enemy hands. Hell, it had to be the only alternative...he’d failed.

But more than that, how did one remain calm in the presence of the person they were in love with?

He’d already messed it up earlier that night with all of his stuttering. Izaya was no slouch in observation, that was for sure. Well…the news of the painting would be distracting enough.

Still…there was one thing he could do before meeting back up with him.

It wasn’t like he’d promised to meet with Shailagh, and it wasn’t as though it ultimately mattered, but, maybe there was something he could do to help her?

He got up, and walked to other end of the ship along the promenade and then the Boat Deck where he could go down the second-class stairs. The walk was a pleasant one, fewer people were out, so it was quiet and calm. Moreover, it felt like the cold night air could clear his head. Felt like it, anyway.

Descending the stairs, he reached E-deck and used Scotland Road to get to the stairway down to the third-class cabins. F-59, was it?

Finding the door, he knocked on it. Shailagh’s voice sounded from the other side.

“Jack, is that you? …I’ll be right out.”

Shailagh appeared from the other side of the door, closing it behind her. Her hair was pinned up, and she seemed to be wearing sleeping clothing.

“I don’t wanna wake the baby- oh!”

He’d surprised her. Not that he meant to frighten her or anything, but he just…hadn’t known what to say.

“Sorry, it’s me. I…need to speak with you.” Really, he did want to hear the story from her point of view a bit more.

“But – we were meeting later. Where’s Jack?”

“Sorry, I don’t know. I was wanting to know if you could tell me about the letter a bit more,” he was trying to be as gentle as he could about topic. If she could feel at ease enough to chat with him about it, that would be ideal.

“Please, I don’t want no trouble! I didn’t know the letter was so dear. I just wanted to take something, anything that looked valuable,” she looked away. “For the baby. It was Jack who read it. Saw it was bad for Mr. Conkling. He said the bit about sellin’ bad steel’d ruin him if it was to get in the papers.”

There were two main points Shizuo wanted to ask about – she had just revealed a lot.

“Tell me about the steel, please.”

“Anyway, Jack, he says Mr. Conkling got the letter from an engineer up at the mill.” Shizuo nodded encouragingly. “Said the mill’s been making bad steel. High in sulphur is what he called it. The steel’s no good – and they put in in the Titanic! It’d be a scandal if it got out!”

It made perfect sense now.

“That’s why Mr. Conkling wants the letter back. But Jack, he says Conkling’ll have to pay us to get it – five thousand dollars.”

Shailagh paused, closing her eyes for a moment as if somewhat distressed.

“Ha – Mrs. Conkling’s probably behind it. All she cares about is a fine name and pots o’ cash. And a baby. But she won’t get Eddie, no, she won’t! And if she tries, I’ll ruin her…make her poor as me.”

That was the other thing. “Can you tell me more about the baby?”

“My baby, Eddie. He’s the only reason I stood them last month at the Conklings’. I knew Mr. Conkling weren’t going to leave his missus. I was only a parlour maid, but I didn’t care…I was happy to have his baby.”

So…Jack had been wrong?

“Him and Mrs. Conkling, I thought they was so kind. Until I found out…”

“…found out?”

“That Mrs. Conkling…she was going to steal my baby for her own. Once I had it, she would fire me. And then take Eddie for herself. She can’t have her own babies…so she – so _they,_ they used me to get one. To get Eddie!”

Shizuo was dumbstruck. What kind of people was he dealing with?

“When I found out that was her plan, I left. I didn’t know the letter was anything, I thought it might hold a pound or two.”

“I…I see,” he managed to get out. “It must’ve been so hard on you.”

She smiled.  “Thank you. But, I’ll be alright. Just you see.”

That was good to hear.

Then, he heard something else. Crying.

“Oh, that’s Eddie…bye. Don’ forget about our meeting.”

He waved farewell to her, and she disappeared back into her room.

It had been surprising what he’d learned just by talking with Shailagh. Conkling had even recommended it…did he think Shizuo wouldn’t believe her if she told him the truth?

Well. Regardless of Conkling’s lack of judgement in general, Shizuo knew it had been some time, and he needed to get back to Izaya. Izaya’s room wasn’t too terribly far from here, so he’d try there first. But, to no avail.

‘Great.’

But then, there he was, coming through the door leading into the hallway, Izaya.

As if automatically, his heart sped up.

He needed to somehow keep calm and stick to business.

Why was it so hard?

Maybe if he simply could refrain from stuttering again, it could be a victory.

Hopefully.

~  
*  
~

Izaya had decided to head back to his room. With any luck, Shizu-chan would be there, or at least he’d be there soon enough. And as luck would have it, he was there indeed. Looking particularly uncomfortable. Odd, it reminded Izaya of the last time they met up. Would Shizu-chan be stuttering again…? Such an odd mystery that was.

“Shizu-chan, I’m glad you’re here,” he gestured to his door, and opened it up. “Shall we?” he asked, smirking.

For some reason, Shizuo started looking even more uncomfortable and nervous, even. Still, he entered the room, and Izaya did as well, closing the door.

The air was thick with something, he sensed. Shizuo was clearly responsible for it. There was something he was incredibly tense about.

“Alright, Shizu-chan, out with it.”

“Huh?” Now, he was looking worried.

“You’re obviously a nervous wreck about something. Tell me what happened.”

Shizuo sighed. Not a good sign.

“I didn’t get the painting.”

Oh.

_Oh._

“I see…” Izaya couldn’t help but frown a little at that. The painting was vital…still, it wasn’t a lost cause, not yet. Shizuo explained to him what had occurred.

“I’m sorry…”

Izaya’s head snapped over to where Shizuo was standing, having finished listening. Izaya strode over to him, and placed his hands on Shizuo’s shoulders, causing the man to look at him.

“Don’t you dare doubt yourself, Shizu-chan. You did your damndest, I know that. What I need from you now is your continued hard work on this. Not all is lost…you’ll see.”

Something changed in Shizuo’s eyes, and he…smiled. Izaya couldn’t help himself from smiling back at him. Izaya did, however, stop himself from kissing him.

Stepping back away, Izaya gave Shizuo a run-down of what he’d found out and what he’d heard, and began pacing around the room as he explained. He was just about done, when he noticed Shizuo looking crestfallen again.

Then Shizuo spoke, sounding like he was mumbling to himself.

Izaya froze.

“What?”

Shizuo repeated himself, seemingly without thinking.

“I just can’t let things go the way they did before.”

Izaya stepped back over to him.

No. It couldn’t be.

“Shizu-chan…what do you mean?”

Now, Shizuo looked back up, looking horrified. He tensed back up all over again.

“Uh…that’s just…”

But as Izaya looked on, it seemed Shizuo was giving up on finding anything to say.

Shizuo sat down in a nearby chair, flustered.

“You’ll think I’m insane…” was all he could produce.

Izaya continued to stand there, catching up to what his mind had already realized. He started to laugh. Not too loudly, but out of sheer incredulity.

Shizuo looked up, confused. Izaya stared right back at him, and then, smiled. Which only served to further confuse Shizuo.

“You’re from 1942, aren’t you, Shizu-chan?”

Shizuo’s mouth fell open.

“I……how did you know that?”

Izaya kept smiling, feeling relieved. This was a good thing. A very good thing.

“Because, Shizu-chan – so am I.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True facts:

John Jacob Astor IV was the richest passenger on board, with a net worth of around $85m (approximately $2bn today), and went down with the ship. One legend claims that after the ship hit the iceberg he quipped to a waiter: “I asked for ice, but this is ridiculous”.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit longer, yay!
> 
> Thanks as always for reading!! <3 Much love~


	7. 11:00PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I'm not sure how I feel about this one buuuuut I'm back~! Wow wow!   
> You guys would not believe how much effort it took to do this ;_; But I'm so glad I did :D I have missed this~  
> Ok, so, even though this might be a pile crap, I hope you enjoy all the same T_T

Poor Shizu-chan.

From the look on his face, it seemed he just couldn’t comprehend what Izaya had told him.

‘Did I break him?’ Izaya wondered.

“Shizu-chan? Hello?”

But Shizuo kept staring at him, mouth slightly agape and not blinking. As attractive as even Shizu-chan’s surprised face was, Izaya needed him cognizant.

“I know I’m highly desirable, Shizu-chan, but staring at me like that is quite embarrassing, you know.”

That did it. Shizuo blinked and shook his head.

“W-wait, what?”

Izaya sighed. “Never you mind, Shizu-chan,” but Izaya was smiling anyway. “We need to proceed with business.”

Izaya didn’t want to add any distress to Shizuo by explaining how he’d been thrown into the past; getting caught in an explosion wasn’t a minor thing, after all. It might make Shizuo break again.

“We can talk about this some more later, Shizu-chan. Right now, as you know, we’ve got a miserable future to stop.”

Shizuo seemed to come back to himself. “Right…yeah.”

Shizu-chan’s bewilderment was cute, but unhelpful. Luckily, it seemed he was alright again.  
  
~

Shizuo started. He spoke of Jack and Shailagh and their struggles with the Conklings. Though it didn’t involve their mission, Shizuo felt it necessary to bring them up anyway, just in case. He noticed that Izaya was certainly taking mental note of them. Especially when Shizuo spoke of the Reverend Troutt.

“If Haderlitz has been around the steerage class…it might mean something,” Izaya was muttering.

Troutt had spoken of Willie hanging about the crew and the steerage passengers. Shizuo didn’t know why Izaya was hung up on it, but he kept silent. It wouldn’t do to interrupt his thought process; not because Izaya’s expression of high concentration was cute or anything, but because Shizuo was supposed to be the one taking orders. Why delay the process? If Izaya thought it was important, then...it probably was.

Now Izaya was pacing as Shizuo spoke, who explained the rest of what he’d learned from Shailagh right before Izaya then told Shizuo about the conversation between Zeitel and Sasha that he’d overheard.

“So…you’re compromised?” Shizuo asked almost incredulously. For someone like Izaya, this just seemed very unexpected. Even if Willie VonHaderlitz was a spy for Russia, an ally of Britain, that was just another unknown variable thrown into the mix, meaning it just might only cause trouble.

Shizuo’s hands gripped at his knees where he sat and hunched over, hair falling in front of his eyes as he began staring at the floor. If something were to happen to Izaya because of their enemies - no, if something happened to him at all…Shizuo closed his eyes, grimacing. He couldn’t let himself think that. He couldn’t, and yet he just wasn’t able to get an image of Izaya laying on the floor as lifeless as a cadaver out of his head.

“Hey.”

Shizuo looked back up and Izaya’s face was in front of his. The agent had stooped down to Shizuo’s sitting level, and he’d placed a hand on top of his. Immediately, he relaxed his hands as Izaya’s hand curled around his own, gently.

Izaya’s smile was an earnest one, reaching his eyes that looked…affectionate?

“Nothing will happen this time. We’re going to complete our mission, escape the ship, and –“ Izaya hesitated, cutting himself off before speaking again. “We’ll report back and rise up the ranks…alright?”

Shizuo marveled at Izaya’s quiet, and dare he say, gentle tone. Could it be…? Was Izaya really being comforting and reassuring with him? Who was this man? Where was the mocking roach he had once met all those years ago…? Shizuo just stared at Izaya in wonder, searching. No. No, that person was still there. They were one and the same and Shizuo found himself realizing he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Finally, he let go. And fell, crashing through the borders of denial. He could fully admit it to himself now – he was in love. With the roach. With _his_ roach. Izaya.

And he was happy.

Shizuo felt his own heart melt almost violently as a wide smile leaked onto his face. He couldn’t hide it if he tried. Ah, well. If Izaya figured it out, then so be it. Shizuo would put the mission first, he could decide about confessing after they got off the boat, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to hide his feelings anymore.

Heart racing, he placed his other hand on top of Izaya’s, the other man looking just slightly confused.

“Yeah, you’re right. As always.”

~

That voice shook him down to his core.

Mouth dry, he swallowed harshly. Something…had changed. The different qualities of Shizuo’s voice alone proved that and Izaya had even seen it happen.

One moment Shizu-chan was tense and anxious about something and then the next…he’d calmed down and… _this_ happened. What _this_ was, he still wasn’t sure but Izaya was nothing if not astute. He’d merely tried to calm Shizu-chan down a bit…nothing special, right? It was highly unorthodox for him, but he couldn’t figure out what had shifted in the mere look of Shizu-chan’s eyes. They shone with something Izaya could not identify.

But Shizu-chan’s eyes combined with the smile that had graced itself to Izaya’s view, caused his heart to leap and jump up his throat as his breath hitched. He was left with nothing in that gaze and the hand overtop his own must have weighed tons for how little he felt he’d be able to escape it. Assuming he wanted to.

But…with time marching onward, now wasn’t the time for getting lost in that gaze. If he were fortunate enough, he’d have another chance.

Still, Izaya felt his face heat up and with any luck, Shizu-chan would not notice that nor his slight trembling.

~

Shizuo noticed that Izaya was trembling and looking a bit flushed. Without thinking, he lifted his hand to Izaya’s forehead. His temperature seemed normal. So why…?

No. It couldn’t be. There was no way, Shizuo was certain. And yet, was it impossible? No.

Before he could continue his train of thought, Izaya had straightened up to stand so quickly it was as though he’d been shot out from a gun.

“A-anyway,” he coughed out, and cleared his throat. “There’s one more thing.”

Shizuo had to use every ounce of concentration he had to listen; he was certain he’d stumbled upon the answer to Izaya’s secret. The reason Izaya called him Shizu-chan.

~

Izaya couldn’t believe how much he’d slipped in front of Shizu-chan like that. This was getting dangerous. If he revealed himself to Shizu-chan and if Shizu-chan didn’t feel the same (of course he didn’t!), he’d likely never see the man again after this mission. He’d be abandoned, no doubt about it.

But speaking of the mission, that’s what he had to concentrate on. They’d come so far now, there was no way he could stop here.

Izaya took a breath and explained himself.

_When he was on his way back to his cabin earlier, he’d been stopped by a steward. Smethells, to be exact. Izaya had seen him around before, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he was Shizu-chan’s steward among others._

_“Ah, there you are. Wandering about, are you? This ship holds a strange fascination for you, does it not?”_

_Smethells had stopped him on the Aft Grand Staircase. What was strange was that he was, it seemed, looking for Izaya. How Smethells knew who he was at all was a mystery, but the man seemed to have a mysterious air about him anyway._

_A fascination, though?_

_“You could say that, I suppose.”_

_“Hm. Most peculiar.”_

_Izaya thought the same of Smethells, but of course, he was far too polite to say so._

_“I’ve a message from a young German gentleman by the name of Haderlitz.”_

_Willie?_

_“He would like to meet you. In the Squash Court……they’ve opened it for -him-.” Smethells’ left eyebrow shot up high on his forehead. What was that supposed to mean?_

_“Highly irregular, I must say. Especially for fencing.”_

_Odd._

_“Did you say fencing?”_

_“Yes. Apparently, he does not favor racquet sports.”_

_“Haderlitz…is he alone?” With Willie being a spy, there was every reason to assume he was alone. But one couldn’t be too careful. Especially…if this was all some kind of secret ploy._

_“Surely, he is. The percentage of passengers demanding the courts late on a Sunday night is small. Miniscule, actually.”_

_Izaya recalled the entrance being somewhere within the D-deck cabins, strangely enough._

_“Fine, I’ll meet with him. There is, however, something I must do first.”_

_He had to meet with Shizu-chan, he needed to know what his fellow agent was up to._

_“Meanwhile, I shall inform the German gentleman that you will meet him presently.”_

_Smethells turned and left quickly up the stairs, leaving Izaya to nearly wonder if that had actually just occurred. It was a little bit of an odd encounter._

Shizuo thought about it.

“So, Willie has called on you to fence with him?”

Izaya raised a fist to rest his chin on in thought as he looked to the floor. “It seems so.”

The curious thing was exactly what Willie’s intention was. Shizuo tensed up. With Izaya’s identity compromised, him attending this odd meeting would be risky at best. But Shizuo could also acknowledge the potential importance of it as well. They might obtain some valuable information. Perhaps Willie was willing to reveal his hand to Izaya? There were various possibilities circling in his head. He must have been making various expressions that were easily read, for Izaya spoke suddenly.

“Shizu-chan.”

Shizuo looked to Izaya, breaking out of his thoughts. His partner had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“You’ll plan to follow me to the meeting no matter what I say, no~?”

Shizuo closed his eyes briefly. “Am I that obvious?”

“To me, yes.”

Running a hand through his hair, the blond let out a sigh. Sheesh. He’d really need to work on that. He didn’t want to give himself away to Izaya. If the man could read him so easily, then he’d catch on to Shizuo’s love too in just a matter of time. He couldn’t have that, the risk of losing Izaya would be too great; there was no way his fellow agent felt the same. The most Shizuo hoped for was a mutual friendship…hopefully they could continue that after the mission, off the ship.

“Well then, shall we get going?”

Izaya made his way to the door.

Shizuo stood up quickly, a little confused.

“You’ll let me stay with you?”

Maybe he could’ve phrased that better…Shizuo resisted the urge to smack himself in the face.

Izaya raised a brow but said nothing on the matter.

“You can follow me to the squash court but hide yourself away outside of it. If Willie leaves first, we can’t have him seeing you…he might be a spy but it’s possible that the whole thing is a double ruse,” he explained. “That being the case, you’re our best-kept secret right now. None of them seem to be aware of you, and we had better keep it that way.”

It was true, when push ultimately came to shove, Shizuo could end up being their ace in the hole when they tried to get the painting back.

Shizuo nodded and started to follow Izaya out the door. “Then I’ll wait for you nearby.”

Izaya seemed to still be in a bit of a joking mood. “Ah~ so you’ll wait for me no matter how long it takes?”

Izaya wasn’t prepared, however, for the instant response.

“Yes.”

“R-right then.”

As they walked toward their destination, Izaya fought hard to keep the blush off his face as his partner walked alongside him, totally unaware of his plight.

~

“Thank you for coming.”

Izaya had stepped into the plain room, the walls were dark, as they were clearly made of a metallic material and the floor was wooden and smooth. The entire chamber echoed with loud noises rising up from the engines below, making it somewhat difficult to make out what Willie was saying.

It was fine, however. Even if he needed to lip-read, Izaya was well capable of that.

“Well, thank you for the invite~”

“I do not meet so many people on the Titanic. It is a pity – I like ze English. I vish I knew more of zem.”

Willie was dressed in fencing garb, which was all white. A mask was tucked under his arm.

“Now, you have the chance to fence with me – three-time champion of my university. You are also an excellent athlete, yes? Colonel Zeitel believes it so.”

An interesting comment. Where did Izaya learn sword-play? For his occupation, of course. And how would Zeitel know of this without knowing Izaya’s real profession? …Which meant Willie also most certainly knew who Izaya was as well. Of course, he did suspect as much upon receiving the invite, but still, now he had confirmation.

No point in denying it. “He is correct, I do have some skill in this art.”

“The Colonel is seldom confused about anything. You will play. If you win, perhaps I’ll relate to you some stories.”

Then there was only one thing for it.

“My foil, please.”

Izaya got dressed in the appropriate gear, and they were off.

Indirect blow.

Dodge.

Circular parry.

Double attack.

Riposte.

Reprise.

Lunge.

Parry.

Compound Attack.

On and on it went, until finally, Izaya claimed 5 blows first, ending the match.

They removed their masks, panting from exertion. It had been a little while since Izaya had done this, but luckily, he’d won the match. Now hopefully these stories would be worth it.

“You are a great athlete…ze Titanic, how quickly she is moving. Ze engines are loud here…”

Ah. So Willie had chosen this location very specifically, for who could possibly overhear them like this?

“Ze Vikings thought this part of the North Atlantic cursed. Even modern sailors call it the Devil’s Hole; a place of deadly surprises…things aren’t always what they seem, yes? Like me, for example. I am German, but I am also a friend to others…perhaps even the English.”

Izaya smirked, not bothering to hide it. So…Willie was testing the waters, so to speak. ‘Let him,’ Izaya thought to himself. ‘He’s talkative enough…let’s see what he’s willing to say without my interference.’

“Anozzer match? Afterwards, we can tell more tales.”

Izaya didn’t dislike fencing anyway, so why not? There was still some time left. Maybe Willie knew where the painting was.

Izaya won the next match again, but it was much closer this time.

“You fence well!” came the tired-sounding voice of Willie’s. From a pocket, he pulled out…a ring. It was simple, a gold ring and on the circular face of it was a gold star with a red background.

“Take this ring in friendship. May it bring you luck. A ‘sing I fear we shall all need.” Willie looked off to the side. How ominous. Of course, Willie would be feeling a sense of doom which was made evident by his next sentence.

“…But if anything should happen to me…I trust you vill know what to do.”

Yes. Willie knew that Zeitel knew he was a spy. It seemed Willie was even predicting something horrible happening to himself. Izaya needed more information.

“I’d like to hear more about you, if you don’t mind,” Izaya admitted with a smile. This mve usually worked well, most everyone loved to talk about themselves and in the midst of their excitement to do so, they’d frequently let things slip.

“You do?” Willie asked in surprise. “Remember: Only one thing is certain, and the rest is lies,” he chuckled to himself. “It is quote, from an old book I recently had the pleasure of perusing,” he smiled, very friendly. “But I tell you more: I am an associate professor at the University of Vienna. I document the mythos – the legends of mankind. I’m on my way to New Mexico to study the Zuni Indians. I am interested in vat Herr Doctor Freud calls ze unconscious mind…what happens below the surface of experience.”

Izaya had heard of this of course and he did agree that it was an interesting field of study.

“Tell me…what frightens you more…fire? Or ice?”

Both were reasonable things to fear. Especially in their current circumstances. But Willie surely meant something further beyond the literal meanings.

“I’m not sure,” he responded. And it was true – anything he could think of that would be alternative meanings to fire and ice were equally worth fearing.

“The ancient Aryans believed that mankind would face four ages. According to zem, zis is now the Wolf Age. An age that ends with ice. After the Wolf Age ends, mankind shall experience a fire that will burn for two generations.”

Ah, so that was it.

“Clearly, a metaphor for war,” Izaya responded, quietly.

Just as quietly, Willie responded. “…That we must all try to prevent…yes?”

Even softer, Izaya spoke again.

“Quite.”

That had been interesting. Willie answered Izaya’s question, but he was able to swing the topic to one of his own choosing as well. Clearly something he had been hoping to say. Or was it some kind of mind game? A ruse to make Izaya think that Willie might be on his side only to be betrayed?

Curious. But now he needed to know about the painting, but he couldn’t risk being direct.

“What is Zeitel’s interest in art?”

“…Why do you assume he is interested in paintings?”

“Hm~?” Izaya rose a brow. “I did say ‘art’, not ‘paintings’.”

“Ah- yes, yes, yes. Art. A-and, you are mistaken- Colonel Zeitel cares little about art, unlike his friend Herr Barbicon. I notice he likes old Vienna, as he has many pictures of the city.”

Unexpectedly, Willie quickly switched topics…though Izaya supposed they were related.

“If ze fire comes, my…friends…will favor ze English over Germany.”

An admission of sorts. Izaya hadn’t originally gotten too much of an impression of Willie when they first met, but perhaps Willie had been suspicious of him immediately – was that why the man had been staring at him when they’d first met? Had he some kind of information that let him know about Izaya’s true profession? Either way, things had taken a turn for the interesting.

“Anozzer match?”

One more couldn’t hurt. Just one more, though. Time would start to fly by before he knew it, Izaya had no doubt.

And with more strike, he’d won again. It had been neck and neck, however. Izaya was finding himself a little tired.

Though Willie seemed no less tired as well.

“V-Very good, you have proven yourself…and I must confide in you,” Willie spoke between pants. “Colonel Zeitel suspects I value my friends more than Germany…he’s right.”

Izaya stewed on that for a moment. It was as he suspected.

“So…you know of who I am, then?” Time to be a little more direct. Izaya was feeling more confident that this was not any sort of set-up; that Willie was being genuine.

“…Let us meet again later. For now, keep ze ring. I bid you…good night.” And with that, Willie left. Izaya removed the fencing gear.

It had been a paranoid dodge…Willie seemed scared.

The moment he left the squash court, Shizuo emerged from around a nearby corner.

“どうしたのか?” (What happened?)

“簡単に言えば、あいつは友達なんてがいるそうだ. あの友達は戦争の場合、イギリスの味方だと言った. あいつはドイツよりあの友達のほうが賛成するが、ザイテルに疑われるらしい.”  (To put it simply, it seems he has some friends, of a sort. Should war come, those friends of his will favor the English. He said he does favor his friends over Germany, as it seems Zeitel suspects.)

“信じてくれるかい?” (You believe him?)

“ああ、俺をだまされることは可能性があるんだけど、何となく、真実を言われたって感じってる.” (Yes, though it is possible that he was fooling me, somehow, I feel that he was being truthful.)

Shizuo crossed his arms. If Izaya was confident enough, then it was fine with Shizuo. He wasn’t sure he really liked it, but even so, he’d go with it for now.

Before they left the hallway that the squash court was in, Izaya turned to face Shizuo. He had an idea for what to do next, and he would run with it.

“さあ、ここからこう言うことをしたほうがいいのさ. 静ちゃんはザイテルを探し、追いかけること. 何かするのを調べること. 俺は先会った人と会うつもり. あいつは多分有用な情報があると思うけどさ.” (Alright, from here, here’s what we should do. Shizu-chan, you find Zeitel, and follow him. Investigate what he’s doing. I’ll be going to meet a man I met earlier. I think he may have some useful information.)

Izaya acknowledged to himself that it might be risky; splitting up at this time. But they needed an eye on Zeitel while still trying to progress in locating the painting.

After explaining this, Shizuo seemed to understand, and left him, though reluctantly.

Izaya hoped that he hadn’t just given out foolish orders. He didn’t notice that pair of golden eyes watching him leave with worry.

~

The Grand Staircase was as…grand…as ever. There were fewer people out now, given that the time had grown later. The few people that did remain seemed tired, yet there they stood or sat even so. Izaya did his best not to seem too alert in general; that would only give him away as not belonging. But luckily, the man he was looking for not only was still out and about, but he was in the same area as where they’d first met.

“Ah, I was awaiting your arrival,” spoke Trask, acting as if he’d been standing on the landing of A Deck for at least an hour. He stood next to the beautifully carved wood surrounding glass-encased clock. According to Trask, the two carved women that were on either side of the clock were called “Honor and Glory Crowning Time”.

“How did you-“

Trask raised an eyebrow.

Izaya shook his head, cutting himself off. It didn’t matter how Trask knew he was looking for him. Trask knew about the Titanic already, after all.

As he’d read Izaya’s mind, Trask spoke.

“They say a hundred wood carvers worked on the Titanic,” he looked solemn. “Such effort, now in such danger.”

Izaya frowned. If there were any question left in his mind about whether or not Trask truly _knew_ things, it was gone.

Izaya’s only clue now was the ring Willie had given him. Perhaps Trask could tell him something about it.

“Would you have a look at this ring? Is there anything you can tell me about it?”

Trask nodded in acceptance, and held the ring in one hand, while raising the palm of his other, as though he were ‘reading’ it, and closed his eyes.

“I see your friend,” he said quietly. “Willie VonHaderlitz.”

Izaya crossed his arms. Trask’s tone didn’t sound happy.

“He is in very great danger,” he opened his eyes. “Though I’m afraid I can’t see where or how.”

Izaya was worried. Doubtless, there were things Willie knew that Izaya had to pull out of him…plus, he could make a great ally and he was an interesting sort, though somewhat odd.

“Now, the ring…yes…did you notice the Russian characters on this inside band? Willie has a hidden life.”

So it was true, then. Willie was working for the Russians in secret. And Russia was an ally of Britain.

But Trask wasn’t done.

“There’s a girl…a pretty girl. In…D-19. Haderlitz knows her. Show her the ring, she’ll help you.”

“I see…is there anything else you can tell me?” Izaya had to know. What if Trask saw something else? What if he could see…Shizu-chan?

“Hmm…you’ll want to stay close to your partner, yes, indeed,” Trask paused, then looked directly at Izaya. “Or is he merely a partner…? That may be up to you; he has already decided.”

Izaya was dumbfounded, which said a lot. Already decided…? Decided what? What was his Shizu-chan doing, deciding things on his own…?

“Good luck.”

And with that, the man walked off.

Izaya stood there, with a feeling of dread.

The night grew colder.

~

 “Yes? Can I help you?”

She spoke softly, a young woman around the age of twenty or so. Her blonde hair was still done up, and she still wore an evening dress with a string of pearls around her neck.

It was time to charm his way through this.

Izaya spoke calmly, and with a soft smile.

“I apologize for bothering you at this late hour, miss, but would you do me the honor of bestowing upon me your name?”

The young woman stood there for a moment, hesitating to answer. “I’m…Claris. Claris Limehouse.”

“Ms. Limehouse. I am Izaya Orihara, at your service.” He made a small bow, which seemed to make her relax a little bit.

“I wanted to know,” Izaya reached into his satchel and pulled something out. “Do you recognize this ring?”

Claris’s expression became that of surprise, and she seemed much more animated. “That’s Willie’s ring! Willie…is he hurt? Something bad has happened…hasn’t it?”

“He may be in danger, I’m afraid,” Izaya admitted.

Claris looked at the floor, in obvious distress. “He told me…if I were ever to receive this ring, I was to know that whoever gave it to me was a friend. And…to tell them about the notebook. That they should find it.”

“A notebook?”

“Willie’s hidden a notebook on board, that’s all I know. Willie…what’s happened to him…?”

Izaya just shook his head.

“He told me jokes…bad ones, but he made me laugh. Not like Mama’s friends. Mama- she doesn’t like Germans, unless they’ve a title to their name. But I like Willie. A lot.”

They stood there in a sort of awkward silence for a moment before Claris spoke again.

“May I have it…? The ring?”

That was going to be all the information he would get with this, Izaya thought.

“Certainly.” He handed it over.

“Thank you…goodbye,” Claris turned away quickly, and went back into her room, trying to hide a crying face.

Izaya made his way back to the stairs. There was someone he needed to find, and quickly.

And there on C-Deck, he stood, pacing by the stairs up to B-Deck.

‘Nice work at looking obvious, Shizu-chan,’ he thought. He should be at least annoyed by the man’s obvious behavior, but he just couldn’t help but smile to himself instead. The anxious Shizu-chan was cute too.

But he couldn’t get distracted. Obviously, something had happened. It didn’t bode well.

The moment Shizuo saw him, he grabbed Izaya’s hand, seemingly without thinking about it, and nearly dragged his superior down the hallways of the C-Deck cabins and then finally, they entered Shizuo’s own cabin.

Izaya hadn’t said anything or made noise on the way there; the last thing they needed was someone noticing them. But once they got inside, he spoke, stern voice ringing out in the air of the room.

“What do you think you’re doing, Shizu-chan? You can’t just drag me around like-“

But he was interrupted by a pair of warm arms and an unyielding embrace. His face was shoved into the crook of Shizuo’s neck. The smell of cigarettes, a mild cologne, and the sea combined to assault his senses.

He was being shocked into silence so often lately. There was a hand on the back of his head, and Shizuo’s own head was tucked over his. The other hand was on the small of his back. Izaya was about to speak again, but then he noticed.

Shizuo was trembling.

It just wasn’t right. He couldn’t allow it. Only he should be allowed to make Shizuo tremble in any way. He frowned. What could’ve happened?

“Shizuo…what is it?” he whispered, softer than he intended.

Shizuo squeezed him just a little more, bringing him closer and hugging him tightly. Izaya couldn’t help the blush on his face. Something major had to have occured for this kind of behavior to be warranted.

“I…I couldn’t-“ Shizuo’s voice nearly cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again.

“I couldn’t find Zeitel,” he spoke into Izaya’s hair. “But…there is something he’s done.”

Izaya wrapped his own arms around Shizuo’s back. He seemed genuinely frightened. What could scare the Beast of The Bureau so badly?

Izaya could feel Shizuo’s rapid heartbeat now against his own chest. He felt his own speed up in response most decidedly against his will.

Shizuo let out a breath. “Willie is dead.”

Izaya froze. He had suspected this might happen, and yet…hadn’t truly believed it.

“He was electrocuted in the Turkish Baths…they’re saying it’s an accident…but…I don’t believe that.”

Neither did Izaya. Though he also didn’t believe was being hugged by his Shizu-chan as if he were a precious thing.

But Willie…he didn’t deserve that. Zeitel would get what was coming to him – somehow.

“I was scared.”

Izaya gripped at Shizuo’s shirt. “Why?” It made no sense. What did Shizuo have to be afraid of? He was nigh on indestructible, for the most part.

“Zeitel killed Willie, no doubt about it.” There, they agreed. So what was the problem?

“What if he’d…” Shizuo took a deep, shuddering breath.

“If he’d found you too, and…”

No…was he…?

“What if he’d hurt you or worse?”

Was Shizuo…

“If he’d killed you too, I…I…”

…scared for _him_?

“If you were dead too, I…”

Izaya let it go.

Time was of the essence.

But…for just a moment, for just a little while longer, he could remain held by Shizuo.

By Shizuo, who was stronger than any man.

Who was feared by many.

By his Shizu-chan.

Who was only afraid for him, Izaya.

And him alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

One of the great unanswered questions in the aftermath of the sinking was whether or not the Titanic’s third-class passengers had been deliberately kept below, released from the third class sections only after most of the boats had gone. Less than a quarter of the immigrants who’d come ashore in Ireland survived the sinking, and stories spread about how key passageways were blocked off or locked, and how ship’s officers refused to let them enter first class spaces. Though there were some problems in this regard – the attitude prevalent in 1912 was that members of he upper social classes ought, by right, to have had first chance at the lifeboats – accounts of the disaster are filled with stories of individual heroism, sacrifice, and will that transcend any notion of class or station.


	8. 11:20PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well!! I got this one out rather quickly! Ah, be amazed~!
> 
> I had fun with writing this one for sure - I hope you have fun reading it ^^/

Shizuo inhaled the unique scent that was Izaya. He’d more or less buried his face into the man’s hair, after all. But as scared as he’d been for Izaya’s safety, as he calmed down, he noticed just how well his partner fit into his arms and how the man didn’t seem to be physically uncomfortable. He could feel Izaya’s even breath across his neck, followed by an uneasy chuckle.

“Be careful, Shizu-chan,” Izaya mumbled quietly, nervousness in his voice. “You’re sounding like you care about me.”

 Shizuo pulled away slowly, looking at him. He waited patiently for Izaya to make eye contact, and didn’t need to wait long.

Those red eyes staring into his, he responded honestly.

“I do.”

If ever he’d clearly taken Izaya off guard, it was now.

Not just confused, Izaya looked generally hesitant as well as his face morphed from surprise, to anxiety, and then to conflict.

“…I…well,” Izaya started, but Shizuo didn’t want to hear it.

Sure, he had his own hopes for what Izaya’s feelings were toward him, but they were merely that, hopes. As for the secret of why Izaya called him Shizu-chan, well, he had a long-shot guess at that too but…he couldn’t be right. His instincts were rarely wrong, but in this case, they couldn’t be right…there was simply no way.

So, he interrupted whatever it was Izaya might say; it was liable to hurt too much.

“I know, time to get back to business, right?” he said, smiling sheepishly.

Izaya seemed to accept that and stepped back. It took a moment, but Shizuo saw the smirk crawl back onto his face.

“You’re quite right, Shizu-chan.”

And into ordering mode Izaya shifted. Shizuo was perfectly fine with that.

“Right, we need to find out more about this. There aren’t likely any clues left behind to indicate that it was a homicide…most likely, they’ll be blaming this on machinery malfunction or something of the like.”

Izaya had crossed his arms and was pacing slowly. Shizuo followed him with his eyes, waiting to hear what they’d do next.

“We have to see if there are any clues among Willie’s things, or something at the scene that could help us in finding the painting,” Izaya stopped suddenly, turning back to Shizuo.

“That’s right, I’d nearly forgotten,” Izaya looked almost annoyed at the fact. “I met with Trask, and he helped me find another lead. It seems Willie had something of a sweetheart on board. She told me that there’s a notebook Willie hid here somewhere. To lead me to her and thus the notebook, he must have thought it important enough to tell me about it.”

Shizuo caught on quickly. “If that had to do with his own mission, then it’s probably vital to our Russian allies…”

Izaya nodded. “Exactly. We need to recover that as well…looks like we have two things in our possession we needed, and we have two things still to find.”

Shizuo checked his pocket watch.

Time was running from them.

~

“Heiwajima…what have you heard…anything? Tell me.”

Third Officer Morrow was standing to the right of the door to the Turkish Baths. Smethells stood to the left.

When Shizuo and Izaya emerged from the stairs into the area, the officer approached them.

Of course, Morrow was familiar with Shizuo from before. His gaze lingered on Izaya, being unfamiliar with him.

Shizuo took a small step to the side, closer to Izaya. “We know Haderlitz is dead.” He signified his association with Izaya in this way.

Morrow looked at them both. “You knew him?”

They both nodded, grimly. Morrow frowned. “Look…don’t breathe a word to anyone.”

“We understand,” he looked at Izaya, then back to Morrow. “May we investigate?”

Morrow raised a hand, a little defensively. “This was just a simple accident…Ismay is going to raise hell when he hears…and I thought this was going to be an easy trip.”

Shizuo would have to push him a little. “Did anyone see anything?”

“Talked to Smethells, his steward. Said the man came down here after using the squash courts.”

“Is it alright if we have a look around?”

Morrow shrugged. “Be my guest. Mind you – it’s not pretty…now, if you’ll excuse me.” He went back to guarding the door.

As they approached, it seemed Izaya decided to speak with Smethells as well.

“Smethells…is there anything about this you can tell us?” Izaya asked.

“Most regrettable,” said the steward. “Most regrettable indeed. The young German gentleman. Dead – in the electric bath…quite unanticipated. He was alive…most vocally too, just a few hours before. Arguing with someone on B-Deck.”

Shizuo saw Izaya frown at that.

“Who was the other person?”

Smethells shook his head. “The gentleman’s voice was unfamiliar.”

“Might I ask what the argument was about?”

“About a painting…he’d misplaced it. And the other gentleman wanted to know where it was.”

Shizuo looked at Izaya out of the corner of his eye. They were probably thinking the same thing: That their suspicion of Zeitel’s hand in Willie’s death was correct.

“Is he…still in the electric bath?”

“He is. The doctor is waiting longer to move him, so as not to alarm the passengers,” he stated. “This is most irregular. Most irregular indeed.”

Izaya led the way this time, having been in the Turkish bath before, and he’d seen where the electric bath was.

~

And there was Willie, laying inside the bath. Only his head showing, with his eyes and mouth closed. The bath itself was one of the rare models on large ocean liners, and only a couple other ships had them, and they did resemble tanning beds.

Izaya saw Shizuo look away. Indeed, it wasn’t a fun thing to see. Izaya sighed. He didn’t know Willie incredibly well but seeing him dead was painful all the same.

Willie’s clothes were on a stool just next to the bath. Izaya decided to search them. Maybe, just maybe there was something…and there was.

He pulled out a small slip of paper. It had, presumably, Willie’s handwriting on it.

_And many Knots unravel’d by the Road…_

“Shizu-chan,” he called.

Shizuo came over, reading over his shoulder.

“It’s obviously a clue for something. I think a location, but where could this be?” he wondered.

Turning around, he saw Shizuo’s face pinched in thought.

Izaya continued to think as well. It didn’t escape him that two of the words were capitalized. Until Shizuo’s quick inhale snapped him out of it.

“I think I know.”

Izaya looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. I trust you.”

At that, Shizuo merely smiled at him.

But it was enough to make his knees weak.

Since he was following behind Shizuo, the other didn’t take notice.

As they walked, Izaya noticed they were headed up, all the way to the Boat Deck. Lucky for him, his knees had sorted themselves out by the time they’d reached the stairs.

But outside, was it? Surely possible, but it didn’t seem like the best place to hide something. Thinking about it more, Izaya thought that perhaps what Willie had written was from the Rubaiyat. It did sound like a passage from it and Willie had indicated earlier that he had read the book.

He noticed that they had walked in the frigid air over to where the second-class stairs were. Not having to spend a gratuitous amount of time outside did sound preferable to him.

Shizuo was walking with clear purpose, and they descended down the stairs, all the way E-Deck.

A sign next to a door said Scotland Road.

Well.

~

Shizuo opened the door, and they turned to the left, heading down the long hallway of Scotland Road. He knew this was the location, he could feel it. Moreover, he thought he knew the exact spot as well.

When he met Conkling here, he’d seen an ax behind a glass case and also a rope, hanging on the wall. Knots unravl’d…Shizuo figured it was that rope.

Shizuo heard an understanding noise next to him coming from Izaya when they stopped in front of it. Izaya began moving the rope a little, looking for something that could be hidden. That was when they heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction.

Shizuo recognized him right away – Jack Hacker. Shailagh’s brother.

He made his way over to them quickly, staring at Shizuo all the while. He barely spared Izaya a glace.

“Christ Almighty Wonder!” he nearly shouted. “Yous’ a facesick, ain’t’cha? Roamin’ the ship, pokin’ your nose into everyone’s business?”

It’s not as though Jack was completely wrong about that. But as Shizuo looked at him, he didn’t seem to have approached them randomly.

“Good to see you,” he began. Being friendly rarely hurt anything, despite being called a facesick. “We’re looking for a clue…can you help?”

Izaya was being quiet in this instance, Shizuo assumed it was because he knew who Jack was, so he was letting him take the reins.

“Jus’ who d’ya take me for, now? One of those la-di-da millionaires up top? Jack Hacker keeps his words, honors his promises. When I saw ya comin’ I says to myself, ‘They’ll be wantin’ to know about it’.”

Shizuo nodded. “Please.”

“The foreign gentleman, German I suspect. A rabbity nervous type he was too. Gave me a bob and told me to tell whoever asked to repeat a phrase word for word. You want to hear it now?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“But still the vine her ancient ruby yields, and still a garden by the water blows…yeah, that’s it. Here, he wrote it down,” Jack handed another small piece of paper to Shizuo.

Shizuo had no idea as to what this clue referred to at all. Why couldn’t Willie have given the painting or perhaps the notebook to Jack…? Well, he supposed, that would be dangerous for Jack.

“Thank you, Jack. We really appreciate that.”

“What’s it mean, anyway? Some rich man’s game ya play? You can have it. Just tell Conkling we want the money tonight.”

And with that, he walked away, leaving the two alone to ponder this next riddle.

“It sounds like another passage from the Rubaiyat,” Izaya was muttering to himself, looking down at the floor. Shizuo hoped Izaya had a better idea about this one, because he couldn’t think of a place fitting anything mentioned in the passage.

Izaya began smirking, clearly looking pleased with himself.

“I believe I at least know the where we need to be…a garden by the water…and vines. But something about ancient rubies? I think we’ll need to go find out about that.”

And they were off. This time with Shizuo following Izaya.

~

Izaya got them to the Café Parisian in what must’ve been record time. It would not normally have been a quick trip from where they were, but Izaya got them there rather quickly.

The room did have windows looking over the sea, and he remembered that when he’d been talking there with Max, Zeitel, and Willie, there had been plants and greenery. This included vines that were growing here and there along the walls of the room.

Shizuo was looking around the room a bit, having never been there before.

Izaya decided to look around the table where he’d sat at earlier that evening. It took a moment, but he finally noticed it, and called Shizuo over. Hidden behind the vine-covered latticework on the wall, was a pack of Old Reds.

‘Ancient ruby, huh?’ he thought.

Shizuo approached, and Izaya showed him the pack of cigarettes. Shizuo’s face lit up.

“They’re not for you to smoke, Shizu-chan,” he chided with a smile.

Against his expectations, Shizuo looked confused.

“How did you know I smoke these?”

Izaya froze. He must’ve been getting tired to have slipped up like that.

A memory was pulled forward. The memory of how he was thrown back in time.

.

.

.

_It was 1942, exactly 30 years to the day after the Titanic sank. Izaya was on a walk, as he often did after his retirement from the Bureau. He’d retired a few months ago, and he was in good financial shape for it._

_But despite that, his heart was unsettled, as it had been for most of his life now. Not that Izaya had quite realized that; he was very used to it after all, so it did not quite reach his consciousness that he was in such a form of turmoil._

_He was aware of one thing, however. A regret. A person, actually. Shizuo Heiwajima. He knew the man had been fired over the Titanic mission. He had failed to meet with Izaya there all those years ago. They’d failed the mission and then over the next few decades, all hell had broken loose. The Bureau needed someone to blame and punish, lest the entirety of it fall upon them. Izaya had, in secret, pleaded with his bosses. He’d tried what he could to save Shizuo’s job. For if Shizuo wasn’t around in the Bureau anymore, he’d have lost his chance to remain near him. No amount of pleading worked however, and all agents were ‘advised’ not to associate with Shizuo any longer. Obviously, it was for the sake of saving face._

_Now, in the present, Izaya regretted obeying that advisement which was clearly disguised as an order. Only recently was he able to track the man down to this dingier part of town in a block of decrepit apartments. But ever since then, he’d taken walks most days of the week, right past where he knew Shizuo lived._

_If it also happened to be the case that Izaya halted his walk to look up at a certain window to a certain one-room flat, no one was any the wiser, including the occupant of said flat._

_Most days, the curtains were closed and Izaya could see nothing inside. Other days, the window would be open, and a portion of a desk would be visible. But when he was lucky, a certain man would pop his head out of the window, always looking up at the sky and rarely looking to the ground. He looked older, yes, of course. But it was still plainly the Beast of the Bureau that he could see._

_So many times, Izaya fantasized going in there and knocking on the Beast’s door, and yet…he couldn’t bring himself to do so. It was a fear that he’d be unrecognized, and a fear of rejection. He did occasionally, however, have run-ins with the landlady. Who was always open to a little bribery when it came to extending Shizuo’s rent due date, little did the man know._

_A majority of the time, when he was looking out and up from his window, Shizuo had a cigarette in one hand, and a pack of Old Reds in the other. It almost seemed like he was smoking them to whittle away the time._

_If Shizuo had looked down, perhaps he might’ve noticed…an old roach from the past._

_But then, on this day, neither of them would escape the explosion._

.

.

.

Izaya simply smirked in response. “From your venture to the smoking room earlier, you just reeked so strongly of smoke, I assumed you’d been smoking as well, Shizu-chan.”

It was a weak excuse but being that they were in a bit of a hurry, Izaya felt it should be able to work.

And as often was the case, he was right.

Shizuo looked off to the side. “Hmph…yeah, well…” he trailed off. “So, where do we go now?”

Izaya had an idea. Even better, the location was very close. Just one flight of stairs up with smoking room.

Being a pack of cigarettes, the smoking room made sense. What might prove to be less obvious would be the thins or the person they’d need to see.

Entering the room, the two walked through the room a bit, and then decided to take a table for a moment. It’d be easer to scan the room that way without looking suspicious. Not that anyone was likely to notice, being that most if not all of them had been drinking.

“で, 人を探しているほうがいいと思うか?” (Well, do you think we should be looking for a person?)

It was somewhat an abrupt question, but Shizuo was looking tense, having just checked his pocket watch.

“ま, そうだと思うけどさ.” (Well, I think so.)

He wasn’t confident at all, really. ‘It could be person, or it could be a spot in the room,’ he thought. ‘But…it must be a person – there was no additional clue that was specific enough.’

“な, 静ちゃん.” (Hey, Shizu-chan.)

Shizuo looked at him, looking more and more concerned by the second.

“見つけたよ.” (I’ve found it.)

Izaya got up, and Shizuo followed. There weren’t many people to choose from, but Izaya walked straight over to one of them. The man had on a plain-patterned suit and was standing by the table that he and Riviera had played at.

Max.

Izaya smirked.

Max knew Willie, and was also likely a smoker…

Max waved at him upon Izaya’s approach.

“Hey, pallie, who’s ya friend?”

“Let me introduce you to Shizuo,” Izaya said as the two men shook hands. “He’s a fan of Old Reds.” Izaya pulled out the pack of cigarettes. “Speaking of, might this pack of them be yours?”

Max accepted it. “Sure, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em, I always say.” He took one out and lit it up.

“Gave one of these to the German kid earlier tonight,” Izaya’s eyes widened a mere fraction and he exchanged a look with Shizuo, which wen t unnoticed by Max who seemed to be busy thinking about something.

“He’s an odd one. While we was docked in Queenstown, I saw him on top of one of the smokestacks. The last one – right at the top! Who knows what he was up to…looked like he was hidin’ somethin’. Crazy kraut kid.”

Max went on for another moment before Izaya made excuses for them, and they left the smoking room.

Izaya looked at Shizuo again, and they smiled at each other. This was it, they had it!

“よくできたね, 静ちゃん,” he smiled. (We did good, Shizu-chan.)

Shizuo nodded in response. “さあ, 行こうか?” (Then, let’s go?”)

Almost running through the halls of B-Deck, they made their way onto the grand staircase up to the boat deck, nearly running passed a bemused-looking Trask.

They made their way down the boat deck, toward the final smokestack. This one did not emit any steam like the other three. In fact, it wasn’t actually connected to the furnaces.

There was a crew member standing nearby it. Izaya approached him, Shizuo waited near the railings.

“Oh, huh, surprised me ya did,” the man was friendly. “It’s a lonely post here, cold it is.”

So then, why…? “Why are you out here, my good sir?”

“Night watch – only a couple more hours.”

There wasn’t really a good way to ask the question, so Izaya went for the direct approach.

“Can I climb the smokestack here?”

The crewman was completely taken aback.

“And break your neck??? The entrance is below decks. Only the lads in the engine room can get to it….ha – climb the smokestack…we’re sipping a li’tle too much brandy tonight, aren’t we?”

Izaya made his way back to Shizuo.

“聴いたよ. 下のデックへ…?” (I heard. We going down…?)

“急げ.” (Let’s hurry.)

Making their way down the second-class stairs, Izaya explained that there might be crew member in their way working on the turbines in the control room before the engine room. They didn’t have any more time to mess around so if necessary they’d have to force their way through. They passed Izaya’s room and went through the turbine and control rooms. Luckily, the crew member wasn’t there, and they didn’t see any others close by.

Before they went into the engine room, Izaya stopped them.

“Shizuo.”

Shizuo was puzzled. “What is it?” Then he became worried. “What’s wrong?”

Izaya was worried too. ‘If someone beats us to the notebook…’

“I want you to wait here for me.”

Shizuo’s brow furrowed; why would Izaya ask that of him?

“It’s possible that Zeitel or maybe Sasha or someone have figured it out as well. If they come down here too, we could get cornered,” he explained. “I need you to wait here just in case someone comes…if they do, I’m counting on you to be here and guard the way up…understood?”

Izaya could see the gears turning in Shizuo’s head. It was true what Izaya had said – he might need Shizuo to guard the way. But there was another reason. There was also the possibility that someone might’ve been there already…and Izaya needed one of them to not be caught.

Shortly enough, Shizuo seemed to accept the idea. Izaya went to turn around and continue into the engine room when he suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle him from behind. He felt Shizuo’s head drop onto his shoulder and a warm kiss placed onto his jaw.

“Be careful…Izaya.”

In shock, he turned around in the Beast’s arms, and was floored at what he saw. His Shizu-chan was staring at him so gently, with a look in his eyes that Izaya couldn’t figure out. What was it and how was it making his own heart melt? More than that, the smile aimed at him was utterly disarming. What kind of fight was Izaya supposed to put up against that.

That was it; he couldn’t. Even putting the kiss aside (and damn if the spot didn’t burn like mad), Izaya found himself breathless. But…was it possible?

Shizuo had said he’d cared for him but…was that all? They’d gotten closer than two friends usually did and yet – could he be right? Could Shizuo be thinking of him as more than that?

He raised a hand to his own jaw where Shizuo had kissed him and he realized his entire face was aflame with a heavy blush. Shizuo had released his hold on him but raised a hand to the other side of Izaya’s head, cupping his face, and just…staring at him in that way that kept Izaya speechless.

Before he knew it, Shizuo kissed him. Again. On the forehead.

‘Is this Beast determined to make my face explode??’ he thought, incredulously.

Shizuo smiled once more and turned around to face the way they’d come, his face red as well, though not as much as Izaya’s. It seemed he was now committed to guarding the way.

All Izaya could do was stand there for just a moment longer. Before he smiled a full smile.

Opening the door to the engine room, Izaya looked over his shoulder quickly, uttered something over his shoulder, and left.

~

“Good luck…my Shizu-chan.”

But the door closed before Shizuo could whip his head around to see where his roach had just been not moments before.

Instead, Shizuo just smiled.

He was right after all…Izaya felt the same…or at least similar.

~

Izaya made his way quickly through the large engine room. It was all he could do to keep his head on his shoulders. The evidence pointed strongly to Shizuo feeling the same way he did.

How could he not be at least a little giddy?

He found himself skipping down the catwalk, looking for the final ascending ladder for the fourth smokestack. He nearly failed to notice someone standing right in the entranceway of it.

There was Vlad. Looking quite upset.

Izaya frowned. He was in for it now.

“You have interfered with my affairs for the last time. You are the one who stole the Rubaiyat! And Sasha’s painting – I know you have it! Now, prepare to die at the hands of Serbia!”

Izaya didn’t fail to catch that Vlad thought he had the painting. So…that meant Sasha didn’t have it. Not only that, but perhaps it meant Zeitel didn’t either…so where could it be…?

But he didn’t have time to think as a punch was thrown his way. Of course, he evaded it easily – Vlad did not appear to be a skilled fighter, but he did get the feeling that if a punch or a kick connected, it would be quite painful.

So, as Vlad threw punch after punch and tried a kick now and again, Izaya dodged and evaded rather easily. But he’d have to attack as well – or else he’d never get anywhere. He waited for Vlad to become a bit tired, before he began his own fisted attack.

It took less effort than he thought; Vlad was no match for Izaya’s agent training, and soon enough, he was knocked out cold.

Izaya didn’t have the time to put him somewhere or move him, so he left him on the floor as is. He had a tall ladder to climb.

Up and up he went, hurrying along but being slow enough not to slip or fall. It wasn’t a casual climb, after all. The smokestack was anything but short.

Finally, he emerged up on the top. Aside from the ladder ‘s entrance, there were not otherwise any open spaces or gaps to fall through – it was similar again to walking on a catwalk, or perhaps a type of grill. The ocean could be seen over the side of the smokestack easily enough.

Izaya looked to the right, and there. There it was – a simple, small, spiral-bound navy-colored notebook that lay on the floor. Izaya picked it up and flipped through it. Inside here various names. Names that were quite familiar…they were names of future Russian radicals. Doubtless the Russian secret police were frantic to obtain these names. Willie must’ve been tasked with obtaining them in the first place.

There was a sound behind him – the sound of walking. Walking that was far too fast, it was all Izaya could do to turn around----

And find a gun pointed at him.

“I think that notebook is for me,” Zeitel spoke. “Please.”

Quickly, Izaya made up his mind.

‘If I get him talking…that just might give me an opening.’

“…How did you find me?”

Zeitel chuckled with amusement. “I cannot tell; we agents have our secrets, no?”

“You’re wanting the notebook?”

“Thank you for finding it. Willie would have appreciated your effort…cold, isn’t it? I’ve maintained that climate is the crucible for civilization…it is the tropic and the arctic zones that bloom barbarism…Russia, for instance.”

Izaya frowned. “So, what does Russia want with this notebook, then?”

“In that notebook are names of certain Russians – revolutionaries living in exile. Germany supports these men. The are called ‘communists’. We provide assistance; small courtesies and wherever possible…financial encouragement. One of these men is moving to Krakow soon. Charming city, Krakow. We urged Willie to befriend such types in Vienna and kept a list of such men for _us_ or, so I thought.”

Luckily, he kept on talking, and occasionally moved the gun away. Izaya waited patiently for an opportunity to attack.

“He was a Russian agent who would turn those names over to the Okhrana, the Russian secret service.”

“And if they got those names?”

“They would kill them! Secretly, of course, but kill them just the same. Think! With the revolutionaries all dead, the Czar would be secure on his throne. That should not be allowed…not when there are wars to be planned for.”

Now, the gun was very much pointed at his head.

“Now then – The. Note. Book!”

But that was when it happened – when everything would change.

Izaya felt a slight jolt as the impact on the starboard side of the ship was felt even up on the smokestack.

“What?”

Of course, Zeitel wouldn’t have known this was coming.

Actually, this was Izaya’s chance.

He landed a pointed blow to Zeitel’s neck while the gun was pointed to the floor.

It wouldn’t keep him down for too long, but…

‘It worked!’ Izaya smirked.

By now, the ship had passed the iceberg now. It was 11:40PM now. There would be only so much time they had from here.

Making his way back down the ladder, Izaya was a little more expedient in making his way down. Though he knew they’d have about a couple of hours from here, the quicker they were in getting the painting, the better off they’d be.

But as he stepped onto the floor and went to turn around, he saw Vlad out of the corner of his eye, holding a rather large wrench in his hands. Before he could do anything further, he was struck on the head and found himself falling to the floor.

His eyes closed.

He tried to open them again amidst the pain and saw Vlad there…with the notebook in his hands.

“You see, my friend? We will all meet the devil…eventually. Heheheheh…”

Izaya’s world went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

The fourth funnel provided air ventilation for the   
galleys as well as a chimney flue for the 1st   
class smoking room. Smoke and/or steam would emit   
from the funnel, but would be hardly noticeable,   
especially when compared to the first three   
stacks, which were connected directly to the   
boiler rooms. The smokestack did have a ladder to   
its top, as evidenced by the famous stern-on shot   
of the Titanic at Queenstown. In a picture of it, you can see a stoker   
poking his head over the top of the 4th funnel.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger...mostly. 
> 
> But yes, I had been gone for some time from writing. I actually had to go home from work the other day; my depression is too much sometimes. I'm considering going inpatient again but...I hope not.


	9. 1:05AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo hoo! Good news, everyone~! Here I am, back with another! And boy do we have both some drama and fluffies!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it as always!

 

The first thing he felt was a warm hand around his own.

His head was aching, but he could feel a soft bed under his back which was accompanied by the scent of something familiar.

Despite the pain, Izaya opened his eyes, groaning a little with the effort.

“Izaya?” called out a soft voice.

Coming into focus was a mop of blonde hair, and pair of familiar golden-brown eyes. Shizuo.

“Shizu-chan…?”

The man was hunched over, sitting on a chair holding Izaya’s hand. His expression was one of worry mixed with incredulity.

Shizuo got up to hover over him, one hand on the pillow next to Izaya’s head, and the other still holding his hand.

As his vision cleared, Izaya noticed Shizuo was simply staring into his eyes, as if looking for something. That was when he let out a let out a sigh of relief.

“You’ll be ok…you’ll be ok,” Shizuo spoke as if to reassure himself.

As the night’s events came rushing back to him, Izaya didn’t fail to notice something that Shizuo was wearing. It was textile, beige and somewhat ratty looking. It was fastened around his chest, covering up his bartender garb. It only took Izaya a moment longer to notice that he had one on too.

Life jackets. Different from the modern ones of 1942 used in maritime warfare.

‘That’s right…the ship – it’s sinking…and Vlad took the notebook…damnit!’

Izaya held out his other hand to Shizuo and gestured at him to pull him up. Shizuo obeyed, and now Izaya was sitting up in what was obviously Shizuo’s cabin, on Shizuo’s bed.

Shizuo sat down on the bed next to him.

“I found you passed out by the stairs going up to the smokestack. I had to bring you back here quickly; I’d heard someone coming down from up there and didn’t think it’d be a good idea to stick around,” Shizuo explained. “I got the Rubaiyat and necklace back from the Purser as quickly as possible…before more people figured out what was happening.”

Izaya rubbed his head as he thought to himself. “Good, very good.”

“Sorry to disobey your order and stop standing guard but after no one came for a good while and 11:40 passed, I just…had to find you.”

Izaya shook his head lightly. “No, you did well…Shizu-chan.”

“What we know now at this point is that don’t know where Zeitel is, Vlad has the notebook, we don’t know who has the painting, and it seems your identity is still safe from our enemies.”

Izaya’s headache was luckily not so severe that he couldn’t move or think. Still, it’d be a little tough to proceed like this.

Finally, the most important thing occurred to him.

“What time is it now?” Izaya nearly demanded in a panic.

“It’s 1:05,” Shizuo responded promptly. “Like before, she’s sinking by the bow. It’s women and children only on the starboard side. They’re giving her about an hour left, maybe a little more…you and I both know the last lifeboat leaves at 2, and then she’ll sink at 2:20.”

Izaya thought about this, not realizing that Shizuo was still holding one of his hands, squeezing it a little in an attempt at comforting him.

Izaya took a deep breath, then looked at Shizuo, who was closer to him than he’d realized.

He swallowed harshly, trying to keep his bearings. He couldn’t forget anything in issuing his next orders.

“Right…there were many people in the First-class lounge at the time of the sinking 30 years ago as I recall,” he started. “I want us to start there, see who we see, and we’ll continue from there, depending on the information available to us.”

Shizuo nodded in agreement. Izaya presumed he didn’t have a better idea, but…he seemed somewhat distracted as well. Ah, there was one more thing.

“Oh, and, thank you for…protecting me.”

Shizuo’s head, previously looking at the floor, snapped upwards, his eyes meeting Izaya’s own.

“What?” he questioned, almost harshly. “But I failed…you got hurt – how could you say I protected you? How could you be thanking me…?” his tone was almost pleading.

Ah, so he was right – his beast was distracted by that.

“Because, Shizuo…” he started with a smirk. “Zeitel would have been the one coming down the smokestack that you heard…had you not come and gotten me…I don’t want to imagine what could have occurred,” he winced ever so slightly. “And I admit I needed the…rescue, you could say. And you pulled through for me.”

Izaya broke eye contact and was blushing slightly, embarrassed.

“So…thank you.”

What embarrassed him further had to be the pure awe in Shizuo’s eyes as he looked at Izaya.

“Now…let’s go – there’s no time to lose.”

Shizuo smiled, and they left.

 

~

 

The First-class Lounge was similar to many of the rooms on the Titanic. At night, it was usually closed, but now open due to the emergency. Its main décor color was yellow, along with some oak and mahogany woods and various paintings hung above the seating and other furniture.

Someone had started a fire in the fireplace, and there were people here and there talking with each other. Some relaxed and even laughing. Others frightened or resigned looking. Most with lifejackets on.

Izaya spotted a few people of interest right away. Claris – Willie’s love interest. Zeitel. Trask – the psychic.

Luckily, Zeitel was facing away from them.

Izaya turned to Shizuo. “Talk with Trask – see what he has to say about all of this…there might be something he knows about that we’re forgetting, for example.”

He continued in Japanese, briefly and quietly. “それに, ザイテルは君のことが気付かなくていたらいいな.  どうだろう?” (Also, it’s better if Zeitel continues to not notice you. What do you think?”).

Shizuo responded with a simple nod and went over to Trask to speak with him. Meanwhile, Izaya decided to go straight to Zeitel. Time was of the essence, and the one person left who might really know where the painting was would be Zeitel.

Izaya approached Zeitel where he stood. It appeared that he was looking through the selves of a bookcase. That is, until he heard someone approaching him and turned around, just slightly visibly surprised to see Izaya.

“You are proving surprisingly hardy…so perhaps you’ll honor one more request,” just then, a far away scream sounded, followed by the smashing of glass.  “…the evening’s last, it would seem.”

Izaya frowned. “And just what would this request be?”

“Well…you could save a life?”

“And who’s life would that be?”

“The Lady Georgia’s, of course. I have poisoned her.”

For a quick moment, Izaya weighed his next words carefully. He came to a conclusion: Sasha must’ve told Zeitel that Izaya had asked Sasha about her. From that, Zeitel must’ve decided he cared for her personally. Well…that wasn’t the case, but…well. If he played his hand well, this could go to their advantage.

“And why should I believe you?”

“If you decide against helping me, she will die. But if you cooperate,” Zeitel pulled out a flask. “The antidote, for her. Why…there goes Mr. Ismay…he’s abandoning ship. Not just the women and children…but the President of the line gets a seat on a boat too.” Zeitel stared him down, clearly trying to emphasize a sense of urgency. “So…will you help?”

It wasn’t hard to guess what this trade-off would be.

“Fine, agreed,” Izaya answered. “You’re after the painting…yes?”

“Yes.” Zeitel was frowning. “The painting for antidote…you have it. And we both know it’s true value. So…hand it to me.”

Izaya smirked. “It’s a shame, that. I don’t have it, you see.”

Zeitel scoffed. “Lies will not help the Lady Georgia.”

“Oh, I don’t imagine they would, but the truth is, I don’t know where it is…quite honestly, I was hoping you would.”

“Willie expounded on many things…but this, he did not deign to share with me.”

Izaya believed it. There was the time that Smethells mentioned the two of them arguing about it.

“Hmm…well then…we’ll make a deal. I find the painting, bring it to you, and you give me the antidote…yes?”

“Good. Then I suggest you get moving.”

Izaya merely laughed at his suggestion as he walked away.

 

~

 

It was right when they split up.

Shizuo went to talk to Trask.

Eerily, the man nodded to him in greeting. They hadn’t previously had a proper talk beyond self-introductions, but the man greeted him as if they’d spoken a few times before.

“I did wonder when the two of you would rematerialize.”

Shizuo stopped in place, frowning.

“The two of us?”

“You and your partner, of course.”

Izaya had earlier told him that the man was legitimate. He’d just have to carry on with the assumption.

“I-I see…aren’t you trying to find a boat?” Maybe the man would need some help?

“Me? Why no, I’m too old and too fat for small boats. Besides, after spending my corporeal career communing with the beyond, I’m not too worried about joining it now.”

A crash sounded out not far from them.

Trask spoke suddenly.

“Visit Mr. Riviera in the smoking room…he’s playing for some very high stakes.”

…Could it be?

“How high?”

“…VERY high.”

Yes…it was. Just like he remembered from 30 years ago.

That tarot card.

There was a scream sounding from far away.

Not long after, he saw Izaya make his way over to a blonde woman out of the corner of his eye.

Trask was simply staring at him.

“Hurry…the Titanic won’t last much longer.”

“You…knew about the Titanic…didn’t you?”

Shizuo was convinced now.

Trash merely shrugged in response.

“But what’s still unknown is what you two will do now. Don’t you see? You’ve changed the past – you…you’ve had that chance,” he paused. “What you do now…will change the future.”

Shizuo bit his lip. No pressure or anything.

“I greatly suggest a hand of cards with Mr. Riviera…hurry, now.”

There was nothing for it.

“Well…goodbye, then.”

“Goodbye. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintances in this world. Perhaps we’ll meet again, in the next.”

It had to be the most ominous goodbye he’d ever received.

 

~

 

Shizu-chan was still talking with Trask as Izaya walked away from Zeitel. They’d have to act on the painting immediately, but they needed the notebook as well. And Vlad was likely…

He stopped his thoughts as he approached Claris.

He didn’t get the chance to greet her before she started talking.

“If you’ve come to get me to leave, I’m not going. I want to stay here. Close to Willie.”

There was no time. “I’m sorry, Claris. Willie is dead.”

She closed her eyes. “We met here, in the lounge. Willie introduced himself. He was so kind. Not like Mama’s friends; they just want our money. I’m staying with him.”

He had to try one more time.

“Go to the lifeboats, Claris.”

“We went for a walk that night on deck, there were so many stars. Just like tonight. I told him you can’t see the stars in New York; the lights burn too bright.”

A groan sounded from a wall across the room.

“I told him to go to Central Park. To the Park, and see the stars,” she paused and took off a deep red shawl she had been wearing. “Here, take this shawl, I don’t need it.”

There was no convincing her. He took the shawl.

“If you get to New York, visit the park. That’s where you can see stars…that’s where I wanted to take Willie…goodbye.”

And with that, she passed by him, leaving the room.

Taking the person you loved to see the stars? It sounded…beautiful. Izaya’s eyes glazed over for just a moment as he stood there, taking that in.

But there was no time to lose.

As sad as that had been, the timing had lined up well. Shizuo was turning away from Trask, and Izaya caught his eye as he left the room.

He waited on the top level of the Aft Grand Staircase. There wasn’t an exit onto the boat deck, but there was the smoking room where Riviera would be.

Just a moment later, Shizuo emerged. They were, luckily, alone.

“Zeitel didn’t see me,” Shizuo reported.

Izaya nodded. “Good.”

The two of them quietly exchanged the information they’d gotten.

Izaya took a deep breath.

“Alright. These next orders will probably be the last ones, so…listen closely, Shizu-chan.”

They stared at each other for just a moment, before Izaya continued push past the ache he still had in his head.

“Your main task will be to find the painting. You’ll be the one dealing with Zeitel from here on out. And watch out for Sasha, we don’t know where he is. If you get the painting, and we have the time, I permit you to trade it for the antidote for Georgia…I know she’s your friend, so…save her if you can,” he paused, looking at Shizuo who seemed relieved though possibly concerned as well.

“As for me, I will play with Riviera. If what you said is true about the tarot card, then I think it’ll be critical in ultimately getting the painting back for good after you’ve secured Georgia’s safety. That being the case, we’ll have to meet up later so I can get it to you. Additionally, I’ll find Vlad. I think I’ve got something that he’ll trade the notebook for.”

He took another breath.

“Then, with any luck, we’ll get off the ship somehow.”

Izaya said it all almost robotically as Shizuo handed him the necklace; he’d need it for the card game.

He hadn’t wanted to linger on the topic of Georgia much. Despite Shizuo not indicating at all that he and she were anything more, Izaya couldn’t help but feel nervous about it. But that nervousness bled into everything else too; would they be able to get the other items and escape alive?

Yet at the same time, everything was now life or death – how could he be thinking like this?

But, it seemed, he didn’t have to worry.

As Izaya was going to end the rather one-sided conversation and dash off to his first task, Shizuo had stopped him by placing a hand under his jaw, similar to how he’d done earlier.

“You forgot something.”

‘What?’ he thought, almost panicked. ‘What could I have forgotten?’ he thought, going wide-eyed.

Shizuo answered the unspoken question.

“This.”

Shizuo bent down just slightly, tilting Izaya’s head up, and slowly drew in close. Their lips now just centimeters away from each other. Shizuo stared into Izaya’s eyes. As though he were…waiting? As Izaya’s brain caught up with what was happening, he blinked slowly.

He had to first process the fact that Shizu-chan was so incredibly close. That was the reason for why he was smelling that unique scent so strongly. It was also why he could see nothing but those warm eyes that were…pleading for something?

Ah, but there it was: Realization.

He wants…?

Truly?

Izaya took a chance.

He closed the distance between them before either could change their minds.

Warm. That was his Shizu-chan.

His own hands went to clutch the white shirt that Shizuo wore, as a warm pair of hands had come to hold his face – thumbs were brushing away the tears off Izaya’s cheeks and the fingers would occasionally run through his hair.

He was…crying? Happiness? Relief? He couldn’t be sure as his usually clear and consistent thoughts became the consistency of soup.

But one thing remained clear as day: Shizuo was kissing him back.

Izaya shivered; it was a light touch still, light enough to make his skin crawl and his hair raise in pleasure.

They separated, just a bit. This time, Shizuo fully initiated it, looking again straight into Izaya’s eyes, who then closed them, embarrassed. Izaya simply lost himself in the feeling of those lips and the breaths they took between them. Then the caresses through his hair, on his face…the stolen glances here and there.

They finally separated, as Shizuo let go of him, and Izaya let go of the shirt.

“You forgot,” Shizuo stated plainly. “We _will_ get off the ship with everything…together.”

Izaya heard every word through the rushing of his heartbeat and the small panting breaths he took.

Izaya smiled. It was all he could do. Just smile at his Shizu-chan. He was absolutely right.

They would get everything and leave the ship together. If it was the two of them, they could do it.

Shizuo took both of his hands and squeezed them gently.

“We can do this.”

Izaya merely kept smiling.

“I guess you figured out my secret…Shizu-chan.”

Why did he call Shizuo that? Simple. It was an affectionate nickname. The suffix was used in their homeland for young children, especially girls which was the most commonly known meaning…but it could also be used in various other ways. And that included between lovers.

Shizuo smiled back and leaned in, pressing their foreheads together.

“And now you know mine.”

The reason Shizuo had been stuttering before…the reason was so clear now, not to mention obvious.

For a few minutes, they simply stood there; a happiness taking hold in a dangerous dark place.

But they’d made their own light.

After a particularly loud groaning of metal coming from the ship elsewhere, they separated.

Alright. It was time to do this.

“Meet me on deck by the second-class stairs later…you’ll need that card I’m about to win,” he smirked, confident now.

Shizuo smirked back, much to his surprise. He laughed in farewell as Shizuo went down the steps to cut through B-deck.

He was off to look for the painting.

Izaya hurried over to the smoking room. Right beyond the far door was Riviera, sitting at his same table as always.

He sat across from Riviera, who spoke almost frustratingly slowly.

“Bonsoir, mon ami. Talk to me…the Titanic is dying. But the games are still being played.”

That was true, there were people playing games at the other tables as well.

“Zat why you have come? For a game? While away ze time?”

“That’s correct, friend. What are your stakes?”

No time for fooling around.

“My stakes? Why, mon ami, we play for souls. Haha, at least, a substitute thereof.”

Riviera pulled out…yes, a tarot card. The Death tarot card.

“We must play for something real. Something a man would die for. A pass…to the lifeboats. With this, you have life. Looks familiar, eh? If you win, it is yours…what do you wish to put down in return?”

Izaya pulled out the necklace Shizuo had handed to him silently.

“Ah, jewelry. Such diamonds...quite valuable. If you win, you receive the boat pass. If I win, I get the necklace.”

And down went the cards. They both received a face-down card, and a face-up card. Izaya’s was 4, Riviera’s, 6. Checking his own face-down card, Izaya saw it was a 10. That made 14. He’d take a hit. It was a 5. Now he had 19. He decided to stay; it was only two away from 21.

Riviera, it turned out, had a 9 underneath. That made 15. He hit, getting an ace, or 1, in this case. Up to 16. He’d have to hit again if he were to try to win and so he did. The next card was a jack, sending him far over 21 and it was a bust. Izaya had won.

“You have won,” stated Riviera. “Well-played. Here,” he handed over the boat pass to Izaya who took it and the necklace back. “Deliverance, of a kind. Maybe I see you again…before you die…adieu.”

The creaking of wood sounded from a deck below.

But he had it, the boat pass. He’d need to get it to Shizu-chan later but for now, it was up to him to find Vlad and get that notebook back.

Vlad was still likely down below the decks by the engines…if Izaya was on time, that is.

 

~

 

Shizuo was on the verge of a meltdown.

Well, perhaps the situation didn’t yet call for such a dramatic thought, but it was getting to that point.

He was outside on the Boat Deck, hurrying along as fast as he could, while trying to listen in on conversations. It was his best lead right now, as he had no idea who could have the painting or where it might be in general. But one never knew who might say just the right thing.

Honestly, he felt it was a long shot but at the same time, there were people outside on the deck, shivering in the cold air. He could hear the band beginning to play from the gymnasium, or that direction, at least.

“There’s simply no organization…”

“Did you see Benji Guggenheim?”

“All of them running hither and thither-“

Shizuo ran into Daisy of all people as well, but she did not end up being helpful. Simply saying she needed to get the right boat, as she only traveled with the best. Shizuo encouraged her to simply get on a boat. But that would be up to her, ultimately.

He kept moving.

“Packing the women and children off like-“

“Something simply must be done about-“

“Mummy, it’s so cold!”

The Reverend Troutt was, apparently, not finding himself any luck in being granted entry to a boat. Though Shizuo advised him that a boat on the Port side might take him, the man remained on the Starboard side even after Shizuo left. Quite odd indeed.

“There’s no plan of attack!”

“I say, I’m in need of a gin!”

“Not now, Henry, I do think we should stay with the boats…”

“An absolute madhouse, don’t you think?”

“Really, there’s no social order being kept…like those immigrants in the second-class stairwell – the woman seemed quite upset.”

Now that sounded familiar…

“The man was carrying with him a painting of all things; would you believe it?”

There…that was it!

Second-class stairwell, right.

It made perfect sense. Willie _had_ been among the steerage passengers, which was made evident by what Troutt had been saying earlier that night, and the fact that Shailagh’s brother Jack had that clue for the two of them as well…as it turned out, he must’ve given the painting to Jack after all.

But fair enough, Zeitel wouldn’t have found it that way. Willie was a genius in his own right.

Just as he reached the stairs, Shizuo saw distress flares being lit and shooting off into the air.

The ship was dying, and quickly.

Taking the steps down as quickly as possible, he was met with a blockade at B-deck. A crewmember spoke to him.

“My orders are to allow no one down beyond this deck…if you go down there, I can’t guarantee you’ll come back; it’s dangerous down there…the steerage passengers are still waiting for the order to go up to the boats.”

It appeared to be quite true – there were masses of people shouting just below that deck, it seemed there were being held back.

“I’ll take my chances,” he answered.

“Good luck – I’ll try to remember you on the way up!”

Luckily, Shizuo didn’t have to make his way very far down; there they were on C-deck. Jack and Shailagh, who did indeed seem to be quite upset. Jack was trying to calm her down the best he could. And it did look like he was carrying it…the painting. He approached them as calmly as he could.

“Shailagh, what’s happened?”

“M-Mrs. Conkling…oh,” she managed between tears. “S-she’s stolen my baby!”

In the back of his mind, Shizuo told himself that should have been expected, yet he was still visibly shocked.

“I…I was to meet Mr. Conkling, but she showed up instead, demanding the letter! I…let her hold the baby so I could get my hands free…I let her, and she took him! She told the steward Eddie was hers! Wouldn’t let me follow her to first-class! She…she’s leaving with my baby!”

‘What a nightmare it must be,’ he thought.

Jack spoke up. “The German gentlemen, he gave me this painting but never has come back for it. Now you listen – get the baby, and it’s yours. Otherwise, I chuck it into the sea.”

“Take the letter,” Shailagh pulled out the letter. “Find her. See if she’ll trade the baby for it. Please – you’re our only hope.”

Shizuo took the letter.

“I will do all I can,” he tried to assure them. Jack simply nodded in acknowledgement.

He turned right around to go back up, passing by the crewman who seemed glad to see him, and let him through.

“Last thing we need’s a riot,” he’d said.

Shizuo returned to the boat deck and outside. He had to run around the ship yet again, looking for the Conklings or at least, Mrs. Conkling. And there they were just down the Starboard side. He noticed Third Office Morrow was standing nearby, shouting into a megaphone, stating it was women and children only.

She seemed startled when Shizuo approached her, and Mr. Conkling was far too busy arguing with Officer Morrow to notice.

“What do you want?”

“That baby is not yours.”

She looked down at the bundle in her arms.

“He’s mine now,” she said. “No one will ever know. He’ll have a good life with me instead of that penniless girl.” She looked toward the nearest boat. “Leave! I’m getting on that boat.”

Quickly, Shizuo replied. “I have the letter, and I _will_ publish it. Make no mistake.”

“The letter…? You have it?” she looked down at Eddie again, then back up. “It could ruin us…ruin _me_.”

She thought for just a moment. Shizuo let her.

“I’ll trade you. The letter, for the child. Hurry! The letter. For the child.”

Now, she was shoving Eddie at him.

“Take it! Take it!”

‘It?’ a bewildered Shizuo thought as he received the baby as gently as he could.

“Now the letter – yes, let me have it.”

As soon as she got it, she let out a laugh.

“What a fool! You don’t have a place on the boat!”

That was fine with Shizuo.

“There’s no more room, no more! The boats are full…when these boats go, that’s it!”

Andrew Conkling was running around, screaming this at people. It seemed he’d permanently lost his composure. Not only was he inaccurate about the boats being full (there were still a few on either side), but he was inciting panic and chaos among the passengers on deck. Worse, hed started arguing with the officers.

“We’re trapped – we’ll drown!”

Officer Morrow was becoming obviously more and more angry the more Conkling spoke.

“I’ve got to get on a boat – I’ve got money, I’ll give them thousands! I’m getting on, you understand? They’ll throw out somebody else!”

Officer Morrow shouted out to the crowd.

“Stand away from the boats! It’s women and children! Women and children only!”

Conkling was trying yet again to go up to the officer, presumably to argue with him, or perhaps beg.

“Come closer and I’ll shoot!” he’d produced a small pistol. “COME CLOSER AND I’LL-!”

And Andrew Conkling was shot through the heart. He fell backwards overboard, and down into the sea below.

“WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!”

Shizuo looked away. He hadn’t exactly liked the man, but it wasn’t a sight he’d have volunteered to see, nonetheless. He made sure the baby was alright and cradled him closer as to better keep him warm in the cold night.

He left the area, leaving Mrs. Conkling’s wails behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

At 2:00 AM, all the flare rockets had been fired. The bow was completely submerged while the stern had raised clear of the sea, exposing the huge propellers. After the last regular lifeboats were sent away, there were 4 Collapsibles remaining. Collapsibles A and B would never see use. But C and D were loaded up until the end.  
Collapsible D included a passenger who was a 27-year-old- former schoolteacher, who had decided not to save herself, a single woman, when so many men with wives and children would be lost. When a man holding a baby approached her, however, asking her to save the child, she decided that she now had a reason to be rescued and climbed aboard Collapsible D.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's heating up quite a bit, yeah? 
> 
> There should be just two chapters after this left, if I'm not mistaken.
> 
> Thanks always for reading, and do feel free to comment~! Those do wonders for my god-awful self-esteem ^^;;


	10. 1:30AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo~~!!!! Here's another one! Yes yes - here we go!

 

_“Together.”_

Izaya kept what his Shizu-chan had said in his mind. It gave him some strength to hold on to hope, after all.

He made his way back through the First-Class Lounge, avoiding looking in Zeitel’s direction. There were enough people crowding the room, anyway. He had to get over to the Grand Staircase, as it was the only way to get onto the boat deck. Having made it there, he got himself outside, and saw an even higher number of people crowding around areas, making progress of movement a bit slower than usual.

Even so, making it to the Second-Class Stairs wasn’t too big of a deal. There was no Shizu-chan in sight, but Izaya couldn’t afford to wait around, his goal was making it down to the turbine rooms anyway. Despite the ship sinking, he had a feeling Vlad would be down there. Which meant that the notebook was down there too.

He was stopped at one point by a crewman.

“If you go down there, I can’t guarantee you’ll come back. You’re the second one comin’ through ‘ere like this.”

‘Could it be…Shizu-chan has come through here?’ he wondered.

“The fact of the matter is, my good man, I need to get down below…no need to worry about me,” he spoke, his tone conveying a self-confidence that couldn’t be swayed.

“Alright, I’ll try to remember you on the way up…good luck!”

Izaya went down to the next deck and was about to keep going down when he overheard something that sounded quite important.

“Get the baby, and it’s yours.”

The voice was familiar. He whipped his head to the left, and there they were, Shizu-chan and Jack. He saw the painting in Jack’s hands.

So that would be Shizu-chan’s task. Izaya hurried downwards once again. If he were lucky, they’d finish at around the same time…Izaya held onto that hope as he made his way through throngs of people on the stairs.

The further down he went, the easier it became to get through people and move. By the time he reached F-deck, there were only a few people here and there. He went into the area with the cabins. There was no time to stop at his own, anything in there would have to go down with the ship as there was absolutely no time to stop.

Going down the twisting hallway leading to the engine rooms, he went down more stairs again, and made it to the entrance of the turbine room.

‘If I have to somehow convince someone I need to go past the control room again…’ he worried, but luckily, he saw someone below the room’s catwalk. And what luck! It was Vlad. It was Vlad, and…someone laying on the floor?

Izaya made his way quietly down the steps that would lead to this area beneath the catwalk. Vlad was looking the other way, but once Izaya stepped into his peripheral view, he was quick to turn and start walking toward him. Fortunately for Izaya, without a huge wrench in hand.

Vlad was oddly calm, he noted. And he spoke fairly softly as well.

“You have found me,” he spoke. “And Sasha.”

Izaya looked over to the person on the floor. Indeed, now that he was closer, it was definitely Sasha who was laying there.

‘Wait…’

“Did you…kill him?”

“Yes. Sasha cared only for himself. Not Serbia, not the Black Hand.”

Well, that had been rather obvious to Izaya. Then again, what Charles had told Shizu-chan made that apparent as well.

“This is war: Deserters are shot…like dogs.”

Though it didn’t seem like Sasha had been shot to death, it really wasn’t a good time for Izaya to try to point that out.

But then Vlad got to the main point.

“Maybe you come here for the notebook…the one the German wanted?”

The German wanted…Zeitel. Who was now far more concerned with the painting.

“Maybe you want this,” Vlad pulled something out of his pocket. “The English Lord’s necklace.”

English Lord…Charles, he meant.

“It is mine! To sell! The money for the Black Hand…then you will see. Somewhere, sometime...within a month, in a year, we will strike!”

Izaya couldn’t help but let his expression turn grim. He knew exactly what this fire was that Vlad spoke so…fondly of. It was enough to make him curl a fist, though he kept it from Vlad’s view. It is not proper, after all, to show the enemy your hand. In this case, literally.

But he calmed down quickly. It didn’t matter, after all. No indeed not, for Izaya was the one carrying around the real diamond necklace. With the exchange done inside of the nesting doll by Shizu-chan in Sasha’s cabin earlier, that ensured that they were the ones who had the real necklace.

Thusly, Izaya expertly held back a smirk. Oh, but it was tempting to say something. Good thing Izaya had a much stronger desire to get back up on deck quickly.

“It will be a fire that destroys the Austrian oppressors, destroy Europe, and all Serbs will know freedom!”

Vlad was still going, only to be interrupted by the chilling sounds of twisting metal.

“…I must leave! I must get on a lifeboat!”

Vlad looked around, as if weighing his options.

“Once again, I must ask for your help.”

‘My help…? Really, now,’ he thought, slightly annoyed. But Izaya knew something like this was imminent; he’d come down here for a trade after all, so it couldn’t be helped and was expected.

“Find a way to help me board a lifeboat unnoticed. Women and children first is the rule.”

Izaya thanked whatever deity had gotten it into his head earlier that they should first go to the Lounge, for it had been Claris who gave him the ability to go through with this dearly needed trade that he was about to engage in.

“I can get you into First Class, actually,” he half smirked.

“What? How?”

Izaya pulled out of his bag the dark red shawl that Claris had given him.

“You would merely have to disguise yourself as a woman using this shawl.”

The first time Izaya had been on the sinking Titanic, it had been a tactic he’d seen some other men pull off and it had worked. So, when Claris gave this to him, he knew it would be useful.

As for how he himself had gotten off the ship before? He didn’t quite like thinking about it. It had involved jumping from the deck and swimming out toward where the lifeboats were. There had been a collapsible boat filled mostly with men and the thing had been launched overturned. They did manage to be rescued eventually with the other boats, but the situation had been precarious, at best. The freezing air and the freezing water did no favors for anyone. He’d gotten off the Titanic quite late; originally, the distance from the deck to the sea was about 60 feet. So once the deck had come much closer to the sea, that was when he’d jumped, like many others. But most were not to be lucky like he was.

It was later that he found out that Shizu-chan was the other agent on board. And it was today that he discovered just how it was he’d escaped – that tarot card, the pass.

Izaya had figured Shizu-chan probably accidentally won it without trying. That’d be like him.

Vlad interrupted his thoughts.

“A disguise? No, I die like a man.”

Izaya frowned. “Drowning would not help your cause.”

This made Vlad think for a moment.

“…You can get me into the First-Class? To the boats…? What can I give you?”

Ah, and here was the anticipated trade.

“The notebook, if you will.”

“Never…it is for Serbia.”

Were they about to go in circles?

But then, the sharp sound and screech of tearing metal.

“Quickly – what do you take?”

“As I said, the notebook.”

“Take it – and give me the shawl…if I disguise myself…I can reach the boats.”

They made the trade, and among further sounds of impending doom, Vlad secured the shawl over his head.

Izaya tucked the notebook away into his bag.

Vlad was already running up the steps.

“The sea – it’s coming in!”

And he was sprinting to the door and gone quickly.

Izaya looked over his shoulder and sure enough, he could see some water beginning to flow in. It wouldn’t be a slow process for long.

He himself began to race up the steps and out of the turbine room, forcing his legs as fast as they could go up the stairs to F-deck.

He made his way through the cabin area and back to the Second-Class stairs.

He took a quick breather; the number of stairs between the lower deck containing most engine rooms and the F-deck was nothing to laugh at.

Making his way up more stairs, he was forced to slow down as there were still so many people crowding the area. He looked for any familiar faces on his way up but saw none.

He just hoped that Shizu-chan would be up at the top, waiting.

Waiting for him.

The thought brought a smile to his face.

 

~

 

Despite the crowds on deck and in the stairs, it hadn’t taken Shizuo too long to reach Shailagh and Jack again. The crewmember from before seemed like he was used to the idea of letting someone through by now, interestingly.

And there they were, still on C-Deck, waiting.

“You got him back!” Shailagh had never looked so happy. “Oh, thank you!”

Jack actually smiled. “Thank you, you did the right, proper thing, you did.”

Shailagh was cradling Eddie happily, the baby still blissfully asleep, it seemed.

“Here, take this painting,” Jack chuckled. “No use I got for it.”

Shizuo gladly took it and put it away inside his satchel.

Finally, finally, they had it.

But…he knew this would be temporary until he met with Izaya again.

“Go on, get up top with me sister and the baby,” Jack gestured with his thumb upwards.

There was a crashing sound, followed by a man’s scream that faded out.

“No Jack, no – not without you!”

“Hush, now. Hush – there’ll be no luck for men like me up top. I’ll try me luck back here, in the stern. Get movin’.”

Shailagh was finally convinced. “It’s best I be goin’ now…take me to the boats.”

Jack turned to leave, but first spoke to Shizuo one more time.

“Thank you…I’ll not forget this.”

Shizuo led Shailagh and Eddie up the steps. He glared at the crewmember, daring him to say a thing about it.

It was somewhat slow going, but they got up top, and Shizuo led Shailagh toward one of the open boats. Luckily, it seemed Mrs. Conkling wasn’t anywhere to be found in the area. In fact, the deck was noticeably more devoid of people in general compared to before. It seemed too that more people had a sense of urgency and panic about them. There was definitely more desperation in the air.

As they approached a boat, Shizuo told a crewmember he’d be helping her on board a lifeboat.

“It’s First-Class I’m in,” Shailagh near-whispered.

“Yes,” Shizuo respnded. “We’d better hurry.”

As he helped her into the boat, she spoke once more.

“I’ll never forget what’cha done. God protect ya.”

It wasn’t a terribly long time afterward that her boat was launched away.

Shizuo made his own way back to the Second-Class stairs.

Now, they had to trade the painting and save Georgia. Then, get that painting back and finally, escape.

He’d managed to instill some of the confidence back into Izaya, but now _he_ was starting to get nervous.

Izaya wasn’t around the area, at least, not yet.

But Zeitel was.

The man looked uncomfortably stiff, and considering the entire situation, that seemed understandable. He wasn’t moving a lot, but he was looking over the sides and eyeing the remaining lifeboats on the Port side in a calculating way.

But he had to know that he didn’t have a way off.

Or at least, he wouldn’t. Not yet.

There was only precious time left, so Shizuo decided to make a move on his own and hoped Izaya would appear shortly. He still had some faith, so he decided to approach the man on his own. Keeping his identity secret at this point was no longer needed, and Izyaa had said that he’d be the one to deal with Zeitel…

Shizuo felt he understood Izaya’s intention.

He approached Zeitel.

Zeitel turned and raised an eyebrow in question.

Shizuo decided to channel his inner Izaya and gave the man a smirk.

“I understand you’re in need of a certain painting…isn’t that right?”

Zeitel kept a calm face on.

Shizuo pulled out said painting, grinning all the while.

“I think it’s the case that in exchange for this, you have an antidote for me,” he explained.

“Who are you, and what do you know about this?”

“Oh, you mean the plans for my nation’s troop deployment?”

Zeitel kept silent, his eyes scanning over Shizuo, as if trying to read him that way.

“Does it matter, Colonel? I have the painting. You have the antidote…we make a nice trade, and everyone is happy then, yes?”

Zeitel looked around briefly, and then seemed to agree.

“Fine. The painting for the antidote. But first, the painting.”

Shizuo cautiously handed it over.

“And since I am a man of my word…however it is you came to know if this, here is the antidote.”

And the antidote was obtained.

Shizuo tucked it away in his bag.

“And in the spirit of the evening, I’ll even tell you where the Lady Georgia is: Sasha Barbicon’s cabin, A-14.”

Of course, Shizuo knew exactly where that was. It would be rather simple to get there actually, and luckily, it was only one deck lower than where they were. It was a relief that Zeitel was feeling giving despite the strange entrance Shizuo had made.

The sound of clapping came from nearby.

Zeitel this time looked visibly taken aback.

“You!”

Izaya was smirking, naturally.

“What a sight this is~!”

Shizuo merely smiled. He’d been hoping this would happen.

“Well, if it isn’t Colonel Zeitel! I’m so glad you’ve made the agreed upon trade,” Izaya gestured with his arms open. “Ah~ but how rude of me!” Izaya paused as he walked closer to the two of them, and then went to stand next to Shizuo, placing a hand on top of his shoulder.

Zeitel looked all the more confused until Izaya spoke again.

“It seems I’ve neglected all this time to introduce my partner to you, Colonel.”

On Zeitel’s face was a clear expression illustrating the connection made in his mind. It obviously hadn’t occurred to him that Izaya might’ve had a partner working with him.

Zeitel visibly grit his teeth and responded. “You have the irritating habit of appearing most unexpectedly.”

“That’s what I do,” Izaya’s smirk grew wider. “But look, it does not appear as though you’ll make it off this ship alive.”

“Agh – such disapproving looks. And you are wrong; I will leave this ship alive…get me off this ship, and the painting and its plans are yours…” Zeitel looked pained to say it, but could they believe him?

“I am a patriot. But I prefer to be a living, not a dead, patriot,” he admitted.

“Hm, hm, hm~” Izaya hummed. “Lucky for you, we do have something that can get you off the ship.”

He pulled out the boat pass from his bag.

‘Ah – he got it!’ Shizuo realized.

“The pass, for the painting,” Izaya’s expression turned serious.

Zeitel stood there a moment, as if fighting with himself internally.

“Is it a deal?” Shizuo spoke.

“Fine,” Zeitel pursed his lips. “But first, the pass.”

Shizuo held out his hand to receive the painting, as Izaya handed over the pass to Zeitel.

The pass was taken, and the painting – more or less shoved at Shizuo.

It took little time for Zeitel to board his boat, pass shown to a crewmember.

Izaya turned to Shizuo.

“Let’s get Georgia.”

Through their glorious victory in obtaining all of the items, Shizuo had found himself smiling almost ridiculously. Now, he turned serious, and nodded in agreement. This was the last thing they had to do.

 

~

 

Izaya was relieved. Technically he was right – Shizu-chan was essentially waiting for him on the boat deck. And then they made the needed trades with Zeitel. It had all gone smoothly. Now, they needed to save a life and then save themselves.

As they started running along the deck toward the Grand Staircase and therefore A-Deck, they were exchanging stories the best they could. There were even fewer people about now, and who was honestly going to stop them from running?

They made it inside, and then down the steps. There were crashing sounds, much louder sounding than before. The moaning of creaking metal sounded out through the hallways of the A-Deck cabins. The water was coming, clearly.

In all honesty, Izaya had no idea how they would escape with their lives. The only thing he could think of was what he’d managed to do last time. Perhaps they could both be saved that way. But then, their bags weren’t bound to be waterproof, now were they?

Izaya was glad to hear, though, that the whole thing with the Conklings and Shailagh had turned out well. In return, he relayed the result of his encounter with Vlad.

“I was really scared he’d attack you again, honestly,” Shizuo had admitted. In his eyes, Izaya could se the full honesty in that statement. And it was a valid fear, since he’d been badly assaulted just hours prior. Even so, Izaya was glad that what he’d given earlier as orders had clearly panned out well for them both.

Now, so long as their luck held out just a little longer…

It was rather quickly that they made it to cabin A-14. Izaya tried the handle, but the door was locked.

They’d try knocking on it. If no one answered, they’d break it down easily. That is, Shizuo would.

But then – they heard movement from inside.

Torturously slowly, the door finally opened, and out wobbled an obviously ill Georgia.

“P-please…help me. Oh God, please help,” she said breathlessly.

Shizuo took out the flask and unscrewed the opening for her.

She managed to drink what was inside on her own, in a few slow but steady gulps.

Still breathing heavily, she spoke again. “God…thank you.” She looked at them both. “Who is this?” She gestured at Izaya, and Shizuo answered.

“This is Izaya, my…partner.”

“Partner?” she asked.

“I’ll explain another time.”

Georgia nodded, but had another question. “Why has he done this?” So, she knew Zeitel had done this to her.

“Zeitel poisoned you because he wanted a painting,” Izaya answered.

Georgia seemed to understand. “The one…Sasha has. He…wouldn’t let it out of his…sight,” she started to can back her voice properly. “Sasha ran below, to retrieve his valuables, he said.”

Izaya and Shizuo exchanged a look.

“He’s dead now, in fact,” Izaya explained. “In trying to get his things, he…crossed paths with someone he had…well, crossed.”

Georgia looked a little surprised, but otherwise unaffected. “I see…” was all she said.

In all of his dealings that Georgia knew about, she couldn’t have been too surprised then that Sasha would meet his demise at someone else’s hand.

“We need to get you to the boats,” Shizuo changed the subject. It was a more important one anyway.

“Then let’s all of us go together,” she smiled.

Izaya and Shizuo helped Georgia to walk steadier, and they moved as quickly as possible out of the cabin area, and up not too many steps to the boat deck and made it outside.

Georgia leaned on Shizuo, while Izaya raced to both sides through the Grand Staircase in order to see how many boats were left and where. It turned out that there were only two boats left, and they were on the side the three of them had originally emerged to. Izaya rejoined them, and they walk as quickly as they could down to the boats.

One of them was filling faster than the other. Shizuo stopped Izaya and Georgia.

“Izaya, would you help Georgia into the boat? I’ll talk to Officer Morrow.”

Izaya thought about it. Shizuo knew the officer better than he did. And who better to talk to right now?”

“Alright, Shizu-chan. Good luck.”

“Oh,” Shizuo got close to Izaya to tell him something. “Give Georgia the necklace, it is hers, after all.”

That was true. The necklace was also something that they didn’t need brought back to the Bureau, they’d simply known that in the wrong hands, it could finance the Black Hand, so they had secured it.

The important thing was that Vlad didn’t get the Rubaiyat or the real necklace to sell.

Izaya nodded in agreement. It seemed Shizu-chan was up for taking charge now. Hopefully, that’d get them off the ship…but Izaya had faith. His Shizu-chan tended to instill that in him.

Shizuo turned to go over to the officer and Izaya was about to turn his attention to Georgia, when he’d turned around again, and came back to Izaya.

Before Izaya could complain about it, Shizuo had leaned in close, his lips almost brushing Izaya’s ear as he whispered something.

_“No matter what happens…I love you.”_

It was an odd mixture of feelings that struck Izaya right then, so much so that he couldn’t name them all and it made him feel light-headed.

Even so, he needed to press onward – there was so little time left, after all.

“Right…let’s get you in that boat, shall we?” he said to Georgia.

She merely smiled at him and nodded. Did she know? …Perhaps. Izaya found that me didn’t mind.

After settling her in the boat, Izaya secured the necklace around her neck. No better way to carry it.

He backed away, waving to her, and shortly thereafter, her boat was launched.

There were now a miniscule number of people left on deck, many had boarded the other remaining lifeboat. Izaya looked to Shizuo, and saw him with the officer, still.

It seemed Shizuo was actually waiting for an opportunity to talk with him again. Odd. What was going on?

 

~

 

When Shizuo approached Officer Morrow, the man was frantically trying to load in more people on the last boat.

“Is there something I can do?” Shizuo asked him.

The more helpful he could be, the calmer he was, the greater the likelihood that Morrow would be to help, he thought, based on what he knew of the officer.

“I’ve seen you help the passengers, that’s enough,” replied Morrow. He leaned away from his megaphone. “Look, come talk to me in a couple of minutes, there may be something I can do. No promises now, just come back.”

It would be their best shot, and it was scant moments from 2:00. He just needed Izaya.

And yes – Shizuo turned to check, and Izaya was approaching. Right on time.

Once more, before Izaya could say anything, Shizuo just smiled at him, and took his hand in his own.

Izaya obviously blushed (or perhaps it was just the cold air) but he stood considerably closer to Shizuo as he looked back again toward the boat. He trusted that Shizuo knew what he was doing and waited beside him.

Shizuo squeezed his hand lightly after a moment or two of waiting and they walked over back to Officer Morrow, who noticed them quickly.

What he noticed right away was their close proximity to each other, and their hands. It was a mere glance, but the two of them saw it. That’s when the officer spoke to them.

“Listen, Heiwajima, I’ve seen you both do your best to help. Quick – we’ve space for two more. Get in. Damnit – now!”

Shizuo nodded. “Yes, thank you!”

Izaya mimicked him, also saying his thanks.

“There’s no more time! Get in, damn you both – it’s an order!”

And so they did, Shizuo carefully helped Izaya get on the boat, never letting go of his hand, and then climbed aboard safely himself. They sat closely together on the boat, adrenalin still coursing through the both of them.

As their boat was swung out, and then lowered to the ocean, the two of them looked up, and could hear Morrow shouting after them.

“Tell them we did our best! Tell them…”

And the two crewmembers on their boat began using the ores to row them out toward the other boats.

There was still time before the ship would fully sink, but the crew was doing their best to row them out of harm’s way as quickly as possible.

At one point, Shizuo went over to help. Though Izaya would’ve preferred that he didn’t, his strength did mean that they were rowed out much faster than they otherwise would’ve been.

Shizuo did come back, and they huddled close together. As the adrenalin faded, they began to feel the true coldness of the latitude they were at and they shivered together for a while, as many of the other passengers were.

They’d both seen the titanic sink their first time around…so they didn’t look back at it this time.

Now even as the sounds began to die down, the moaning of the sinking ship and the screams of those pulled under the water eventually began to fade and there was an absolute eerie silence.

Time passed, some of the lifeboats were communicating and tying themselves together to help keep stability in the ocean until rescue could come to them.

It wouldn’t be until about 4:00 that everyone would start to be rescued and pulled aboard the Carpathia. They simply had to wait.

Izaya found himself moving in even closer to Shizuo. Their hands were both linked together now. Though his partner was clearly also cold, Izaya still felt a warmth coming off of him.

It was a while later, but Izaya was warm enough to say one thing to his partner.

He got even closer and whispered into Shizuo’s ear.

 

_“…I love you, too.”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True Facts:

There were 2,200 on board and lifeboats enough for 1,178. But in the end, 705 were rescued, and over 1,500 had died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But wait--- there's more! Yes, that's not /the/ end, we've got one more to go, guys. Not gonna lie, I don't know how long it'll take me, but, it's likely gonna be shorter than the usual so hopefully not too long, k~?

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's me! Woooow~ I know, right? And yes I haven't forgotten my other things...suffice to say, this might be the way to save my motivation.
> 
> To those interested in the TL;DR: I changed jobs, had a death in the family, and moved twice over the last couple months. It's been hellish, quite honestly. Plus, I need to changed jobs yet again, actually...uuugh. Anyway, my other fic may be on the back burner but it's not abandoned. As for the one I beta for, well...I only hope to hear from dear authoress of it soon.


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